Long-Term Growth in Shale Gas Production Expected to Play

Role in Shaping Demand for Mid East LNG

Recent developments in unconventional gas sector could impact local gas

markets

Dubai, UAE, 26 November, 2010 - Investment in the development of shale gas, a natural gas

recovered through a careful procedure involving horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in

the US and Europe could present Middle East markets with a reduction in demand according to

Euro-Petroleum Consultants’ (EPC) President, Colin Chapman. Euro-Petroleum Consultants

(EPC), a leading independent supplier of experienced consulting advice for the downstream oil,

gas and petrochemicals industries, today offered fresh insights into the future of the global gas

market and an analysis of the growing role of shale gas production in Europe, North America

and Asia.

“Over the last several years, technologies for extracting unconventional natural gas from shale

formations have been implemented with greater precisions resulting in lower costs,” said Colin

Chapman, President of EPC. “So much so that costs for these types of gas projects have been in

some cases lower than those of more conventional projects”.

In Europe, shale and other unconventional gas resources have been identified in France,

Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the

United Kingdom. As a result, LNG-rich nations such as Qatar and UAE have already begun re-

evaluating options of exporting gas and some of its gas-strapped neighbouring countries.

“Looking at the regional LNG market, the fact we are currently in the middle of a global

economic downturn coupled with the emergence of the unconventional gas supply and new

LNG capacity coming on-stream, it is likely that there will be a reduction in project activity in

the LNG sector over the coming year”, Chapman added.

North America has been the leader in developing and producing shale gas and the great

economic success of the Barnett Shale field in Texas has spurred the search for other sources of

shale gas across both the United States and Canada. Within the Middle East region, shale

reserves exist in Jordan and Syria, but the extent to which the deposits will have on the overall

gas balance will largely depend on the speed at which exploration efforts advance.

The processing of Shale gas has turned around the decline of U.S. gas reserves and significantly

changed the gas supply outlook for the United States. According to recent reports, estimated

U.S. reserves of natural gas were 35% higher than those estimated only two years ago.

Chapman was speaking ahead of EPC’s ME-TECH 2011 Conference & Exhibition, which is taking

place from 24th – 26th January at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, UAE. The conference aims to

discuss latest technology developments in the downstream industry, including gas processing,

oil refining, residue upgrading and petrochemicals. High profile industry representatives such

as Ibrahim Al-Ansari, General Manager, Dolphin Energy and Dr Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun,

Secretary General, Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association, will be speaking at the event

on global and regional trends.

-Ends-

About EPC:

EPC Ltd is an independent consulting company and has extensive experience in providing project management

services on downstream oil & gas projects through all stages of project implementation in various regions of the

world. EPC was formed in 1996 and has been very active in supplying consulting services to different oil & gas

operators in the Former Soviet Union and also to other clients in Western Europe and Africa. Please visit

www.europetro.com for full details.

For more information, please contact:

Peter Palmer, Marketing Manager

Peter_palmer@europetro.com

Euro Petroleum Consultants Ltd

Tel: +44 (0)20 7357 8394