Outside the U.S., shale gas deposits are located in Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, China, Poland, Ukraine and many other countries.
U.S. Energy Information Administration in the USA and 41 other countries of the world at the level of 206.7 trillion cubic meters. The report states, that globally, 32% of the total estimated natural gas resources are in shale formations. It is noted, however, that such estimates may be changed over time due to availability of new information.
World shale gas resources. Source: Energy Information Agency
The largest reserves are concentrated in China (32 trillion cubic meters), Argentina (23 trillion cubic meters), Algeria (20 trillion cubic meters), the U.S. (19-33 trillion cubic meters), Canada (16 trillion cubic meters), Mexico (15 trillion cubic meters), Australia (12 trillion cubic meters), South Africa (11 trillion cubic meters), Russian Federation (8 trillion cubic meters) and Brazil (7 trillion cubic meters). Together, these ten countries possess about 80% of the estimated world reserves of shale gas.
According to the Energy Information Administration, 3.6 trillion cubic meters (1.75% of estimated world reserves) are concentrated in Ukraine.
It is noted that the most promising shale gas extraction will be in those countries that are heavily dependent on natural gas imports, and have developed gas transportation infrastructure. These countries, along with Ukraine, include France, Poland, Turkey, Chile, South Africa and Morocco.
