While the United States is currently undergoing a so-called “shale boom”, other countries trying to replicate this success are already facing enormous logistical and technological challenges in their attempts to do the same. Nations like China and Saudi Arabia are finding that the investment required to extract shale gas, particularly the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), might just be too big for them. The technology puts pressure not only on financial sources but also in areas like water supply, as fracking requires large amounts of it and these countries have none to spare.
Environmental impacts will be the major obstacle that countries will face, therefore “oil and gas companies need to work with their respective governments — rather than against them — in order to determine the most responsible way forward.”
