FP: Europe’s Energy Independence Drive Goes off the Rails

A year ago, Russia’s lunge into Ukraine seemed to be focusing European minds on the dangers of depending on Moscow for their energy supplies, pushing countries across the continent to scramble onto the shale-gas bandwagon in a quest to copy U.S. success and move towards having the ability to produce all the energy they need on their own.

But now, after a series of disappointments from one end of Europe to the other, Europe’s shale dreams seem to have all but evaporated. And that makes it increasingly unlikely that Europe will be able to reap the kind of gas-fired benefits that have rejuvenated sectors of the U.S. economy and greatly reduced American reliance on foreign energy. That will have implications for both Europe’s economic competitiveness and its energy security at a time when a sluggish economy and a snarling Russia worry European leaders in equal measure.

The latest blow to Europe’s hopes of pulling off its own energy revolution came late last week, when U.S. oil giant Chevron pulled up stakes in Poland, the country where geology and politics had appeared most promising for a replay of the U.S. experience. Other international energy firms, such as Total, jumped ship last year. Energy companies there have balked at high drilling costs and disappointing results from their early, exploratory efforts. They’ve also been frustrated by ever-shifting tax and regulatory regimes in Warsaw.  MORE