What are current recoverable reserves of shale gas globally?
The world’s technically recoverable resources of shale gas, which is the amount of gas that could be recoverable with available technologies, are estimated to be around 200 trillion cubic meters (tcm).
The largest estimated resources are in China (36 tcm), followed by the United States (24 tcm) and Argentina (21 tcm). In Europe, technically recoverable shale gas resources are estimated to be up to 18 tcm, with the largest being in Poland (5.3 tcm) and France (5.1 tcm).
Global proven reserves of shale gas, that is, the amount of technically recoverable resources that can be economically and legally produced under existing economic and operating conditions (such as extraction costs and applicable laws), have not yet been estimated. By comparison, remaining technically recoverable resources of conventional gas worldwide are around 400 tcm, of which about half are considered proven reserves.