Reuters: UK sees new shale gas reserve estimate by end-2012

Britain expects to issue a new estimate of its shale gas reserves in the Bowland formation in the north before end-2012, followed by a more comprehensive figure for the whole of the country in 2013, the energy ministry said on Monday.

The Bowland formation covers a huge area with potentially significant reserves, extending beyond current shale gas drilling locations in Lancashire by companies such as Cuadrilla Resources to the Isle of Man, north Wales, south Cumbria and the East Midlands.

"The Bowland Shale estimate will be released by year end," a spokesman for Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said. "There will be a more comprehensive estimate of UK shale reserves in 2013," he added.  MORE