There is considerable scope for improving the efficiency of the production of shale gas, which has revolutionised the supply of natural gas in the U.S., said Andrew Gould, chairman of oil services giant Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB).

"Methods of extraction are going to evolve and be done with less waste," Gould said at the World Petroleum Congress in Doha, Qatar. "This is going to be absolutely essential because of land use problems, environmental problems and the use of water."

Shale gas is extracted by drilling horizontal wells, blasting perforations into the rock and then pumping in liquids at high pressure to fracture the stone and release the gas trapped within. A boom in this technique has turned the U.S. from a major gas importer to a country that is now planning exports, although there is growing opposition to the shale industry because of water pollution fears.

Similar shale gas production efforts are underway in Europe and China.

The production process can be made cheaper and more efficient by better targeting the fracturing technique and tailoring it to the characteristics of each rock formation, Gould said. Currently, "very few of the perforations produce any gas at all, the rest is just waste," he said.

-By James Herron, james.herron@dowjones.com, +44 207 842 9317

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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