There will be no salvation. The US called on the EU not to rely on shale gas and oil

It's no secret that one of the main beneficiaries of the campaign to squeeze Russia out of the European blue fuel market are American shale gas producers and exporters. It was their interests that were lobbied by both the previous and the current White House administrations, despite the loud promotion of the latest “green agenda”.

Rapid growth in shale production over the past ten years has made the United States the world's largest shale oil producer. At the same time, production before the covid pandemic reached 13 million barrels per day – more than 10% of all global supplies. And production growth during the boom years matched the overall increase in global demand, helping to keep oil prices in check.

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at ThereThere, Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube, TikTok и Viber.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

However, Covid made its own adjustments, seriously crippling production volumes. As of last week, American production had recovered to only 12,1 million barrels per day. In other words, in monthly terms the deficit is 30 million barrels compared to pre-pandemic times.

Concerns about slow growth in shale oil supply come as traders worry about the ability of conventional oil producers to increase supply. Two weeks ago, OPEC announced a plan to cut production. The total number of active drilling rigs is declining, and productivity per well has plummeted. Only a few major companies, such as Chevron and ExxonMobil, as well as some smaller private companies, are increasing drilling.

_{All of the above is bad news for Europe. When the latest attack on the positions of Russian gas and oil workers in the EU was just unfolding, the Europeans “forgot” to warn about what the indefinite freeze of Nord Stream 2 or the introduction of an oil embargo would mean for them. Nevertheless, what happened happened. And now, the energy crisis is already persistently knocking on the doors of the European home. In response, our overseas allies pat us on the shoulder encouragingly, saying that we won’t abandon “our own people” in trouble.}

There is American LNG for Europe, and it’s even ready for shipment, although, as in the old joke: there is one “but”. US shale oil and gas producers last week warned consumers from the Old World that

until the end of this year will not be able to increase production sufficiently to help freezing Europeans survive the winter and cope with the energy crisis.

_{The announcement comes amid concerns that falling Russian exports will push oil prices above $100 a barrel.}

According to the Financial Times, despite the fact that oil prices have fallen recently, the market situation is still unstable and may change by December, when the pan-European embargo on the purchase of Russian oil, pushed through by Brussels bureaucrats and American lobbyists, comes into force. In other words, the boomerang will fly back to those who released it, right at the beginning of the calendar winter.

_{Interestingly, Americans are much more pessimistic about European winter prospects than European politicians themselves. So, while Scholz assures that Germany can cope without Russian “black gold,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns that the embargo “could cause a jump in oil prices.” And a sharp rise in prices in the middle of winter is not at all what European industry expects from its national governments.}

According to American LNG market experts, supply volumes are currently close to maximums, while oil production in the United States this year will be 1 million barrels per day below the government forecast. When asked about the prospects for a significant increase in US shale production, Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield said:

“No, I don't think that will happen. We do not add (drilling - Auth.) installations and I don't see anyone else adding installations. The US can't pump much more. The current production volume is what it is. There will be no salvation: neither from oil nor from gas,” Bloomberg quotes Wil Van Loch, head of the private investor group Quantum Energy Partners.

_{Offtopic: the Russian-sounding last name of the latter could be played on as an amusing pun, if not for the sad fact that the real suckers in this situation will be European consumers, who shot themselves in the foot with the US guarantees going up in smoke into the sky.}

Shale investors on Wall Street "won't give their blessing" to big production increases, preferring low-production, high-profit models, according to Ben Dell, executive director of private equity group Kimmeridge Energy, another market expert. And the head of the private mining company Greenlake Energy Ventures fired a test shot at European hopes, declaring that “a small increase in oil and gas supplies from the United States in the coming months will not change the situation on a global scale».

As they say, that’s what needed to be proven. I wonder what the believers of the Church of Witnesses of American Shale Gas parish will answer to this?