FT: Shale gas speed-up likely to make slow progress

The plan for the next big expansion in fracking licences announced on Monday is the latest step in the government’s campaign to unlock a potential bonanza of shale gas sitting under the UK.

However, industry participants and observers have questioned how much environmental and operational constraints attached to the licences, which aim to protect national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty, will handicap Whitehall’s ambition to replicate the shale “revolution” in the US, where production has soared.  MORE