EU Summit: Shale Gas a Potentially Revolutionary Domestic Energy Source

Next week's European Union summit is set to call for an analysis of shale gas as a potentially revolutionary domestic energy source, according to internal papers.

The EU is heavily dependent on foreign suppliers, especially Russia, for its natural gas supplies, and is keen to reduce that reliance. Shale gas, from underground rock deposits, has already been hailed in the United States as a major new energy source.

Now "in order to further enhance its security of supply, Europe's potential for sustainable extraction and use of conventional and unconventional (shale gas and oil shale) fossil fuel resources should be assessed," reads a draft statement prepared by top EU officials for the February 4 summit and seen by the German Press Agency dpa.

The draft does not say who should lead the assessment, nor whether it should be carried out on an EU or national level.

Scientists have long known that shale, an impermeable rock, could yield large quantities of energy. EU member Estonia already uses pulverized oil shale to fire its power stations.

But in recent years, technological advances have allowed energy firms in the US to extract natural gas from shale sites.

Since many countries which have little or no natural gas are home to large shale deposits, some analysts say that shale gas could potentially weaken, or even break, the dominance of gas-exporting countries such as Russia.

A number of EU states are thought to have significant shale deposits. However, the process of extracting gas from shale has been linked to serious environmental problems, with officials in Brussels warning that any extraction in the EU would have to be in line with the bloc's strict environmental rules.