Opposition to hydraulic fracturing has slowed the development of the natural gas industry in Europe, but has led to increased LNG export opportunities for LLS producers, Businessweek reported May 23. Environmental concerns overseas have led many European countries to start issuing moratoriums or all-out bans on the drilling technique. As a result, International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that the European Union (EU) will import 74 percent more LNG by 2035. The agency predicts that the EU's dependence on gas imports will increase to 86 percent in 2035 from 61 percent in 2009. "Europe's an obvious market for such U.S. LNG exports," said energy analyst Daniel Yergin. "Gas is going to become a bigger part of energy mix." Wood Mackenzie estimates that, by 2020, Europe will use more U.S produced shale gas than from domestic sources.
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