Globe and Mail: U.K. shale revolution will shake up Europe’s energy picture
Does Maggie Thatcher deserve her economic canonization? There is no doubt her voracious appetite for lower taxes, light-touch regulation and union bashing pushed Britain up the growth curve. There is also no doubt that she got a lot of help from North Sea oil production, which surged during her stint as prime minister between 1979 and 1990.
Britain’s next prime minister – whether a re-elected David Cameron or someone else – might also see an energy bonanza, but not from oil, coal, green energy or nuclear power. It would come from natural gas of the shale variety. As the North Sea runs down, shale gas is set to sprint onto the scene. Its arrival could transform not just the British economy but radically alter the geopolitics of energy throughout Western Europe.
Russia beware. Western Europe is the most lucrative market for state-controlled Gazprom, the world’s biggest gas exporter. A shale gas revolution in Britain and elsewhere in Europe would not be to its liking.