SOCHI, September 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are skeptical about prospects for shale oil and gas production growth, Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak said on Friday.

“Not long ago, I spoke in Vienna with OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri, who is also skeptical about growth prospects for the production of shale oil and gas, as we are,” he told journalists on the sidelines of the Sochi Investment Forum.

He cited statistics, according to which the growth in global shale oil production in 2013 was 13%. To preserve such growth rates, he said, as many as 360,000 wells are to be drilled, which requires serious investments. The market, in his words, is realistic about the risks.

Novak also noted that this forecast would be taken into account in Russia’s Energy Strategy his ministry was working on.