Romania has 100 years of shale gas, reports EIA

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates the technically recoverable shale gas resources in Romania stand at around 51 trillion cubic feet (1.4 billion cubic meters), enough to cover Romania’s energy needs for the next century, reports Mediafax newswire.

There are 345 billion barrels of shale oil and 7,299 trillion cubic feet of shale gas resources worldwide, says the report. The EIA surveyed 41 countries and concluded that more than half of the shale oil resources outside the US are found in Russia, China, Argentina and Libya. Meanwhile, half of the non-US shale gas is concentrated in China, Argentina, Algeria, Canada and Mexico.

Romania comes third in Europe, out of the 11 countries surveyed for shale gas, behind Poland and France. The US-based agency adds the country has 300 million barrels of recoverable shale oil. To put this into context, Romania’s oil production reached 38 million barrels in 2011, according to EIA.   

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Romania’s gas consumption hovers around 14 billion cubic meters yearly and its gas reserves are estimated at 113 billion. Top political officials and energy experts said that shale gas would help Romania become energy independent and cut its reliance on Russian gas imports, which account for 20 percent of the domestic consumption.

The shale gas industry is still in the early stages in Romania and authorities have recently granted exploration rights for US energy giant Chevron.

Romania’s top political brass seems to favor shale gas explorations, although the PM imposed last year a memorandum on shale gas developments until EU studies proved it was safe. Meanwhile, the memorandum was lifted and both the PM and President Basescu say that using shale gas can make Romania energy independent.

“If after 4-5 years and after spending – those exploring in Vaslui spent around EUR 300 million this year alone, if we find resources, a government wiser than mine can decide if we use shale gas or continue to import from Gazprom, as I see its desired,” said Ponta, quoted by Mediafax newswire.

US energy Giant Chevron has been given the green light to seek shale gas in the Vaslui and Dobrogea region. Authorities have permitted conventional exploration works that don’t involve hydraulic fracking.

President Basescu has been a supporter of shale gas exploitation from day one.

“Regarding shale gas, I don’t know if we have this resource. It needs to be explored. I can’t say what is the size of the risks, but, if I could make a decision – until I finish my mandate we won’t know what resources we have, a decisions will be struck after I finish my mandate-, between certain risks and energy independence, I say yes to shale gas, without knowing much about the risks,” Basescu told a group of political supporters earlier this month.

Both Ponta and Basescu cited the US experience in shale gas, which allowed it to become a gas exporter.

The PM said that state-owned gas producer Romgaz has been exploiting gas through fracking in the past 20 years in a deposit located in Transylvania without reporting incidents. Critics of shale gas say fracking poses a real danger to the environment, due to the mix of substances that are inserted at high pressure into the ground to unleash the shale gas from rocks. They say this procedure runs the risk of contaminating the water supply.

Ovidiu Posirca