USA and the energy revolution of shale gas

Abstract

The thesis refers to the extraction of unconventional shale gas, which is one of the most discussed topics of last few years. It was not considered to be profitable until the end of the 20th century. What made the extraction cost-effective was the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. While the first chapter characterize the shale gas and informs about the historical development, the second chapter aims at the economic impacts. Falling price of gas caused by the overproduction decreases the costs of enterprises and expenditures of households. The unemployment declines too. The third chapter describes the view into the future and utilization of shale gas in energetics, because the cheap gas makes the electricity production cost less. Then the possibility of gas export will be considered. Shale gas is nowhere extracted as much as in the USA. Therefore, it could be exported abroad. However, the exports of LNG could increase the value of dollar, which could badly affect the exporters of American products