Kwok W Wan, LONDON: US shale oil could alter the global crude market, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, just as shale gas changed the world’s gas markets.
"There's been astounding growth in the US with light, tight oils [otherwise known as shale oil]," IEA director of energy markets & security Didier Houssin told the International Petroleum Week conference in London. "And what was called the shale gas revolution might give way to a shale oil revolution. [It] may become a game changer in the coming years."
According to IEA forecasts, US shale-oil output will increase by 175% in the next five years to 1.7 million barrels a day (b/d), accounting for a quarter of US crude production in 2016. Most of the oil will come from the Bakken and...