Is The World's Shale Oil Boom Ending Soon - Example

The paper 'Is The World's Shale Oil Boom Ending Soon" is a good example of a macro and microeconomics capstone project. For the past two decades, shale oil has emerged as a significantly low cost new unconventional energy resource in the United States and the rest of the world. Shale oil production is rapidly spreading globally. The rapid expansion in the production of shale oil has presented a significant threat to the conventional oil industry in the US and in other oil-producing countries, especially under OPEC. The research seeks to establish whether shale oil production can really compete with traditional oil production and for how long.

1.2 Research Objectives

The research will answer the following questions

• What is shale oil production and how is it produced?
• What is traditional oil and how is it produced?
• What are the locations of shale oil production?
• What is the cost of shale oil production?
• What are the environmental impacts of shale oil production?
• What is the impact of shale oil on oil prices and the fare oil price?
• What are the reasons behind the shale oil booming and for how long can it stand the low oil process?

1.3Relevance of the study

Studies done in shale oil production have concentrated on the US energy sector with a disregard for other oil-producing countries. The research will be instrumental in shaping energy policies both in the US and in other oil-producing states, especially in the Middle East. It will help governments to forecast the impact of shale oil production on conventional oil production. The findings of the research will be handy in making decisions on conventional oil prices by making adjustment for the impact of shale oil production.

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Shale oil production

Oil shale refers to the sedimentary rocks containing bituminous materials in solid form which when the rock is heated are released in petroleum-like liquid form (Gordon & Malins, 2013). Obtaining oil from the shale oil involves heating the shale and capturing the resultant liquid. The process of obtaining oil from the shale is known as retorting and is done using a vessel called a retort. Shale oil production involves the exploitation of technological advances in drilling (Hamilton, 2009).