By Patrick C. Miller
The greatest impact of oil production from shale formations might be yet to come if exploration and production (E&P) companies can replicate the successful U.S. model in other parts of the world, according to Thomas Covert, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Covert said that if production from the Bakken and other U.S. shale plays were to double or even triple, it would still represent approximately only a two percent increase in the world’s oil supply.
“The real interesting question about shale in terms of global oil prices is to get a handle on the likelihood that the innovation and expansion in the use of shale technology in the United States is a thing that can happen around the world,” he explained. “Obviously, the United States isn’t the only place where there are shale basins, but it is the only place where they’ve been really active.”
Covert said the development of shale oil production around the globe has the potential to cap world oil prices in the $40 to $50 per barrel range…
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