Russian Authorities to Support Shale Oil Production

Starting in 2019, oil companies in Russia will be able to test new shale oil extraction methods at designated test sites.

According to Izvestia, the Ministry of Natural Resources has already prepared amendments to the Law on Subsoil Resources to facilitate these developments.

Shale oil is located deep within the Earth's crust, making extraction extremely difficult and expensive. As a result, Russia has shown little interest in shale oil development. However, the depletion of large traditional oil fields in the undistributed reserve fund is pushing the industry toward more challenging extraction projects.

To encourage unconventional oil resource development, the Ministry of Natural Resources has proposed creating specialized test sites dedicated to shale oil extraction.

According to the amendments reviewed by Izvestia, these sites will be used to test new extraction methods.

The test sites will be allocated based on applications from oil companies and will also be available through a competitive selection process.