据世界能源网2019年5月10日休斯顿报道，挪威著名能源研究和商业情报公司雷斯塔能源公司(Rystad Energy)表示，北美致密油正在成为全球第二廉价的石油供应来源，仅次于中东陆上市场。
雷斯塔能源公司指出，就在4年前，美国的页岩油还是世界上第二昂贵的石油资源。
雷斯塔能源公司上游研究主管埃斯彭•埃林森表示：“由于石油巨头一直在努力取代常规液体，而致密油毫无疑问是另外资源的一个丰富来源。”
在过去几年里，致密油——诸如美国陆上页岩油——出现了令人印象深刻的好转。根据雷斯塔能源公司的全球液体燃料成本曲线，2015年，北美页岩油以每桶68美元的平均保本价格排名第二。
布伦特原油对致密油的平均保本价格目前估计在每桶46美元，仅比沙特阿拉伯和其他中东国家的大型陆上油田多4美元。
埃林森补充道：“自2014年以来，北美致密油行业发生了很大的变化，因为事实证明，在低价格环境下，致密油是一个有竞争力的石油供应来源。尽管致密油成本有所降低，但在过去4年里，其资源潜力已大幅增长。”
总部位于挪威、在全球设有办事处的独立能源研究和咨询公司雷斯塔能源公司估计，自2014年以来，北美致密油的可开采资源总量增加了两倍以上。
在经历了多年令人失望的勘探结果后，对于那些一直在努力取代常规资源的石油公司来说，致密油同时为产量增长、增加灵活性和诱人回报提供了一个基础。
海上开采通常需要7至12年才能收回成本，而致密油通常只需要2至4年就能收回成本。
埃林森说：“致密油是一种短周期投资，从批准新井到开始生产的周期相对较短，这使得勘探生产公司能够灵活地适应市场环境，并很容易地改变活动水平。在不断变化的油价环境中，这意味着致密油投资的不确定性比海上投资要小。”
李峻 编译自 世界能源
原文如下：
U.S. Shale: World’s 2nd Cheapest Source of Supply in Oil
North American tight oil is emerging as the second cheapest source of new oil volumes globally, just shy of the Middle East The U.S. shale oil was the world’s second most expensive oil resource just four years ago, the energy research and business intelligence company pointed out.
“As the majors are struggling to replace conventional liquids, a wealthy source of additional resources is tight oil,” says Espen Erlingsen, Head of Upstream Research at Rystad Energy.
Tight oil – such as The average Brent breakeven price for tight oil is now estimated at $46 per barrel, just four dollars behind the giant “The North American tight oil industry has changed considerably since 2014, as it has proven to be a competitive supply source in a low price environment,” Erlingsen added. “While costs for tight oil have been reduced, the resource potential has grown considerably over the last four years.”
Rystad Energy, the independent energy research and consultancy headquartered in Norway with offices across the globe, estimates that total recoverable resources from North American tight oil has more than tripled since 2014.
For oil companies struggling to replace conventional resources after years of disappointing exploration results, tight oil simultaneously offers a base for growth, increased flexibility, and attractive returns.
Whereas offshore normally needs seven to 12 years to recover costs, tight oil typically requires “Tight oil is a short cycle investment with a relatively brief lead time from the sanctioning of new wells to the start of production. This gives E&P companies the flexibility to adapt to market conditions and easily change activity levels,” Erlingsen remarked. “In the ever-changing oil price environment, this implies tight oil investment has less uncertainty compared to offshore.”