It is discussed if oil shale prices have reached the limit of profitability

AP

Oil prices have registered a decrease of 50% compared to last year, which would have as a main factor the oil glut largely from oil shale in the United States.

According to an estimate of the 2012 Energy Information Administration (EIA), in the world exist around 345 billion barrels in reserves of shale (shale oil solidified rocks). It should be noted that few countries like USA, Canada, Mexico, China, Argentina and Russia have large reserves of shale that can be obtained with a technology that was developed in 2000, said Fernando Santos Alvite, former Minister of Energy.

He also said that the high prices in 2008 reached $ 140 a barrel of conventional oil generated that the industry bets for an alternative.

This week, with the falling of oil prices, the service company Schlumberger said it expects weak oil prices to have a severe impact on North America, where many fields of shale are not profitable at current prices, which are below the $ 50 per barrel.

Fernando Santos added that considering that the shale market is sold in the future, it is expected that 2015 production is not affected, but a reduction may be felt due to the price drop in 2016.