GIOGIE 2011 took place at Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel in Tbilisi on 29-30 March, 2011. This annual event traditionally attracts over 150 delegates from around 15 countries. WEG Director of Energy Studies, Murman Margvelashvili made a presentation “Shale Gas- a Challenge for Georgia”. The presentation was largely based on the work conducted by WEG in 2010 in collaboration with Hydrodynamics Group LLC under USAID funding.

Shale gas has become an important development of the 21st century that promises to significantly affect the world energy picture in the decades to come. Preliminary assessment shows, that there is a potential for Shale Gas in Georgia that deserves closer examination and in case of success can be developed to provide important contribution to Georgia’s energy supply.

Unlike the traditional gas, shale gas poses much more stringent requirements on technology, business organization, regulation, environment, market and the whole society for its development. The presentation attempted to discuss the most important technical, institutional, financial, regulatory and market barriers that need to be addressed in order to explore and exploit the potential benefit that shale gas may offer to Georgia’s energy security, economic sustainability and social development.