As U.S. shale production plateaus, America’s frackers are looking at opportunities abroad to tap new growth markets and develop emerging shale basins overseas, leveraging two decades of experience and technological innovation.
Opportunities abound—from Argentina to Australia—as oil and gas-producing nations look to unlock unconventional resources to increase domestic output and boost energy security.
U.S. expertise is the best chance these countries have to develop their shale industries, and American producers and oilfield service providers are seizing the opportunity.
U.S. Frackers Export Expertise
American shale drillers and producers are exporting expertise and experience to various projects in South America, the Middle East, and Australia, in search of growth opportunities beyond U.S. shale.
America’s crude oil production is set to plateau as the slowdown in drilling activity will outpace increases in drilling productivity, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) this month.
After reaching an annual record of 13.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025, U.S. crude oil production will decrease this year and next, by less than 1% in 2026 and by 2% in 2027, the EIA reckons.
Low oil prices have already forced oil tycoon and wildcatter Harold Hamm to cease drilling operations in North Dakota for the first time in decades.
But the company Hamm founded, Continental Resources, is now looking to expand its unconventional field drilling in Turkey and Argentina.
Continental Resources said in March it had executed a Joint Venture Agreement to commence the commercial development of unconventional oil and gas resources in the Diyarbakir Basin of Southeast Turkey and the Thrace Basin of northwest Turkey.
Early evaluations suggest the Ultimate Recoverable Reserves could reach 6 billion barrels of oil and 12-20 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas in the Diyarbakir Basin, and 20-45 TCF in the Thrace Basin, Continental Resources said.
“By harnessing the success pioneered by the American independent petroleum industry, this collaboration will allow for the rapid development of Türkiye’s unconventional resources and pave the way for an Energy Renaissance,” the largest private oil and gas producer in the United States said.
Continental Resources has also just expanded its position in Argentina’s top shale play, Vaca Muerta, where oil and gas production is booming, thanks to frackinig technology and business-friendly policies under Argentinian President Javier Milei.
“Vaca Muerta is one of the most compelling shale plays in the world, and we’re thrilled to continue to invest in Argentina and build Continental’s position through this agreement with Pan American Energy,” Doug Lawler, president and CEO of Continental Resources, said.
In the Beetaloo Basin in Australia’s Northern Territory, Liberty Energy—the U.S. shale firm founded by now U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright—has provided modern stimulation equipment for the successful drilling of Tamboran Resources’ shale gas drilling program, the largest in the basin.
“Americans will need to explore outside of America in the next three to five years and use their expertise to develop new shale basins,” Bryan Sheffield, the biggest shareholder of Tamboran Resources and son of Pioneer Resources founder Scott Sheffield, told the Financial Times.
In the Middle East, Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas giant ADNOC has drilled some horizontal wells and tested oil to the surface at a shale play in the United Arab Emirates operated by EOG Resources.
EOG is looking to develop shale resources in the UAE’s oil play, as well as a shale gas play in Bahrain, where the U.S. firm has signed a strategic exploration agreement with the national energy firm BAPCO.
The world’s top crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, is developing Jafurah, the largest unconventional gas field in the Kingdom and the biggest shale field outside the United States, estimated to cost $100 billion to develop.
The Kingdom has launched production at Jafurah, the Saudi Finance Ministry said in the 2026 Budget announcement at the end of 2025.
Around that time, Saudi oil giant Aramco awarded SLB, the world’s largest oilfield services provider, a five-year contract to drive innovation in stimulation, intervention, digital and frac automation at the Kingdom’s unconventional gas fields.
Growing Pains
There will be a period of growing pains that non-U.S. shale development will have to overcome. This was the case in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta, which was slow to take off but is now setting production records and is set to boost output further.
“We need to approach it with a completely different mindset,” an executive with knowledge of EOG’s partnership with ADNOC in the UAE told the Financial Times.
“We need to carve out some time and allow a different way of running the business.”
Despite challenges, including higher costs compared to the Permian in the United States, the opportunities for U.S. shale producers are enormous.
“We take a long-term view of resource development, regardless of geography,” Continental’s CEO Lawler said early this month when the U.S. producer announced it is expanding its Vaca Muerta presence.
“As I like to say, ‘The rock doesn’t know what country it’s in.’”
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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