The most significant development on the supply side in 2014 was undoubtedly the continuing revolution in US shale. The US recorded the largest increase in oil production in the world, becoming the first country ever to increase average annual production by at least 1 million barrels per day for three consecutive years.

More than $100bn of investment has been deferred or scrapped in response to the near-50 per cent plunge in crude over the past year.

ConocoPhillips announced that is was withdrawing from shale gas exploration in Poland.

Compared with 2014, IHS expects investment capital in US shale oil plays to be 65% more efficient at the start of 2016 than the start of 2015 due to compounding productivity and cost cuts

There will be no US-style shale gas revolution in Europe, the president of the International Gas Union (IGU) has told

Saudi Arabia strategy was an attempt to put pressure on high-cost producers such as the US shale drillers.

Despite Europe’s desire to loosen its reliance on Russian gas, the shale revolution has turned out to be a dud. Difficult geological conditions, fierce environmental opposition, cumbersome regulations and a bloody war in Ukraine have conspired to quash investors’ enthusiasm and wear down their patience. The collapse of oil prices to less than $50 a barrel in March was the final straw because the cost of much of Europe’s gas, including Russian imports, is linked to crude.

Large quantities of shale gas, tight gas and coalbed methane are being discovered and extracted in the vast Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB), which covers southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta (AB), northeastern British Columbia (BC) and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories.

The United States will transition from a net importer of natural gas to a net exporter of the fuel by 2017 as the nation’s shale gas production continues to grow, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday in its Annual Energy Outlook.

Oil production from the fastest-growing U.S. shale plays is set to fall some 45,000 barrels per day to 4.98 million bpd in May from April, the first monthly decline in over four years, projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Monday.