Mubasher: The Middle East is likely to join shale oil-producing regions in the future, the UAE’s energy minister said.
The UAE is seeking means to exploit its shale oil resources, Arabian Business reported on Thursday, citing Suhail Al Mazrouei’s statement to Saudi-based Arab News.
“We need to thank the shale oil producers for significantly dropping the cost,” Al Mazrouei, who also doubles as the president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said at an energy forum in Texas.
Lower shale oil cost has helped the Middle Eastern nations look at shale with a different eye, he added.
The UAE will “produce and consume the easier oil, which we have plenty of” in the near future, Al Mazrouei said, noting, “there will be a time when we will tap into the shale oil, but definitely we have looked at the potential.”
In a separate note, the International Energy Agency expects in a report that the US will become the world’s second largest oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia by 2024 as US production levels have significantly hiked.
The US will make up 70% of the total increase in global oil capacity over the next five years by adding four million barrels per day (bpd), following the rise of 2.2 million bpd in 2018, IEA’s oil 2019 report noted.
