North American shale gas policy research findings

With energy security,economic development and environmental protection needs,many countries are paying more attention to shale gas production.The USA and Canada are the most successful countries utilizing shale gas extraction,with shale gas becoming a vital part of the whole energy supply.This paper describes the status and development trends of shale gas in North America and identifies the targets of North American shale gas policy through a detailed analysis for the shale gas policies in the USA and Canada to show that opening the market environment,providing strong production incentives and encouraging long-term technological research and development(RD)are the main reasons for the success of the"shale gas revolution"in North America.The successful North American experience is combined with the Chinese shale gas potential and current status to identify 4key areas for Chinese shale gas policy development.