RELEASE EMBARGO DATE: April 28, 2015 at 9:00 AM

Panel: Geopolitics of Shale
Date/Time: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 / 12:30-13:45
Talking Points for: Philip Andrews-Speed, National University of Singapore

*I will assume that others will talk about the United States’ soon to be achieved oil and gas self-sufficiency, the potential impact of U.S. gas exports on international gas markets, and the consequences for relations with other gas exporting states.

– In shale gas, United States has re-asserted its primacy in technological innovation and in developing large capacities from such innovation.

– Through this achievement, it has inspired countries around the world to search for shale gas (often with excessively optimistic expectations).

– These developments have helped place U.S. oilfield service companies at the forefront of the global search for shale gas.

– And the U.S. government has formed shale gas technology partnerships with countries such as China.

– Taken together, the U.S. shale gas revolution has enhanced U.S. ‘soft power’. Other countries/governments want to emulate the United States, though they will find it difficult given that they have quite different institutional foundations for innovation and industrial development.