Abstract
In this paper, the present status of shale gas development was briefly introduced and intended the growing importance and shale gas as a source of chemicals. The large amounts of shale are expected to be produced thereby, a wealth of methane and ethane will be provided as a raw material of ethylene. This manuscript also focus on the influence of potential volumes of shale gas on petrochemical industry, especially domestic one based on naphtha cracking because ethane cracking can offer cost effective ways to convert methane to higher value chemicals.