UK expectations rise ahead of resource review

摘要

The UK’s nascent shale gas industry is talking up its prospects, closely watched by governments and compa- nies elsewhere in Europe. Expectations of UK shale resources are growing despite delays by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) in publishing a new estimate for the Bow- land shale, now due by 18 July. A US EIA global shale resource estimate this month puts UK recoverable shale gas at 26 trillion ft3 (730bn m~3), five times higher than the last Decc assessment. But it echoes warnings about the geological complexity of UK sites — a factor in the earth- quakes and well deformations that were triggered when independent Cuadrilla Resources attempted its first hydraulic fracturing in 2011, leading to an 18-month ban on the practice (WPA, 24 May, p2).