Swedish Elections and Shale Gas

The re-election of the centre-right coalition of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt  likely means that Sweden's position towards shale gas exploration will remain unchanged.

However, uncertainty remains as Reinfeldt’s four party Alliance coalition comprised of his Moderates along with the Liberal, Centre and Christian Democrat parties, failed to secure an outright majority.

Royal Dutch Shell has been looking for shale gas in the southern region of Skaane and has already completed drilling on three exploration wells.

The Opposition alliance led by Social Democrats in partnership with the Greens and Left Party had spoken against shale gas exploration.

'We have already made clear that a red-green government will not engage in large-scale fossil fuel extraction in Sweden,' wrote the spokesmen for the three opposition parties in a column in the regional daily Sydsvenskan in April.

“This position also includes Shell's planned production of natural gas in southern Sweden.”

Shell has said the Skanne area is promising, and that there could be enough gas to cover Sweden's gas needs for at least 10 years.