UK to Examine Shale Gas Impact On Energy Market

The UK’s Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change will undertake an inquiry on the implications on the development of the shale gas market on energy markets.

The Committee plans on considering evidence from interested parties addressing some or all of the following questions:

- What are the estimates for the amount of shale gas in place in the UK, Europe, and the rest of the world, and what proportion is recoverable?

- Why are the estimates for shale gas so changeable?What are the prospects for offshore shale gas in the UK Continental Shelf?

- Should the UK consider setting up a wealth fund with the tax revenue from shale gas?

- What have been the effects of shale gas on the LNG industry?

- Could shale gas lead to the emergence of a single, global gas market?

- What are the effects on investment in lower-carbon energy technologies?

- What is the potential impact on climate change objectives of greater use of shale gas?

In an initial report issued in May 2011, the Committee concluded that concluded that drilling for shale gas should not be banned and the new fuel source could improve national energy security.  While UK shale gas resources were be considerable, they were viewed as unlikely to be a “game changer.”

The British Geological Society is presently working on a new resource estimate for the Bowland Shale where Cuadrilla Resources announced it has found 200 trillion cubic feet of shale gas after analysing results from two test shale wells on its sites in Lancashire

In June, 2012 an expert scientific report commissioned by the UK government concluded that there is every reason to expect that shale gas extraction using hydraulic fracturing method can be undertaken with appropriate safeguards.