UK shale geology structurally complex and potentially unproductive: report

摘要

The UK’s geology is unlikely to be suitable for hydraulicrnfracturing, according to research released in August byrnProfessor John Underhill, Chief Scientist at Edinburgh’srnHeriot-Watt University. The report suggests that whilernfracking in the UK has largely been stymied by environmentalrnand political opposition, unfavourable geology means thatrnthe technology would be unproductive in any case.rnAn estimate by the British Geological Survey found inrn2013 that Central Britain, which includes the prospectivernBowland basin, could hold between 822 to 2281 Tcf of gasin-rnplace, the lower figure representing P90 reserves – arn90% probability – and the higher figure P10 reserves – arn10% probability. Although these figures are huge inrncomparison with the UK’s proved conventional gasrnreserves, which at end-2016 were just 7.3 Tcf, they do notrnrepresent recoverable gas.