Abstract: Shale gas in the whole world has shown a pattern of rapid development and become an important unconventional energy in many countries.While the United States has been leading the commercial production of shale gas,other parts of the world are promoting shale gas industry by speeding up their technology and policy.Recently,the authors argue that endowment,policy,technology and demand have been four major factors in shale gas industry.This paper mainly studies the production situation and effects of policy on shale gas.Many countries’ polices evolved from a simple stimulus to the stage of regulation.In particular,the fluctuations of oil price and the relatively strict policy for shale gas in the United States led to the outflow of production factors to foreign countries.Although Australia,China,Indonesia,Argentina,UK,Poland and other countries started shale gas research and development programs late,the effect of policies is gradually emerging.The trends of world shale gas include:emerging nations are actively creating new models,water resources and environment regulations have been enhanced,financial and taxation measures are experiencing adjustments,North America holds advanced technology with stable production,European policy becomes favorable and Asia grows rapidly.As for now,the key to the success of shale gas policy is to identify and establishes a balance between regulation and promotion.