EU summit backs shale gas 'revolution'
22.05.13 @ 20:12 euobserver.com
By Benjamin Fox
BRUSSELS - EU energy policy must shift towards diversifying supply, with natural shale gas likely to be part of the mix, EU leaders said at a summit in Brussels on Wednesday (22 May).
UK Prime Minister David Cameron offered robust support for European exploitation of shale gas, telling journalists: "No regulation must get in the way."
"Europe has 75 percent as much shale gas as the US, yet the Americans are drilling 10,000 wells per year while we in Europe are drilling less than 100," he noted.
He added it is "no surprise that over the last decade Americans have increased their energy from shale from just 1 percent to 30 percent, and here in Europe we are now paying twice what the US pays for wholesale gas."
For his part, European Council President Herman van Rompuy said the summit was the "right moment for a strategic debate on European energy policy." He noted that "Europe will soon be the only continent dependent on imported energy..."
...John Lyman, energy director for the Atlantic Council, a think tank working on US-EU relations, told EUobserver that shale extraction "would get done in parts of Europe" only. "The resources are there, but it is all about the politics," he added, referring to the clash between environmental and energy security lobbies in several countries...
...In a statement on Wednesday, Green group energy spokesperson Claude Turmes described the EU's focus on prices as "deluded and misguided..."
...He added: "Shale gas is not the silver bullet for Europe's energy policy but rather a dangerous Trojan Horse..."
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EU leaders face up to shale challenge
22 May 2013 - 20H07 france24.com
..."All leaders are aware that sustainable and affordable energy is key to keeping factories and jobs in Europe," European President Herman Van Rompuy said. "Industry finds it hard to compete with foreign firms who pay half the price for electricity, like in the United States," Van Rompuy said at the close of an EU summit focused on energy and tax evasion.
Britain, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Spain favour developing shale energy but others, and France in particular, are reluctant or opposed, citing environmental fears...
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Romania gears up for more shale gas exploration -minister
Thu May 23, 2013 3:00pm BST uk.reuters.com
* Government has become a supporter of shale gas
...Shale gas faces local opposition due to environmental concerns around hydraulic fracturing, the process of injecting water and chemicals at high pressure into underground rock formations to push out the gas. Thousands protested across Romania last month, asking the government to ban the drilling.
Romania's leftist government initially opposed shale gas when it took power in 2012 but has since became a supporter in view of the potential economic benefits from any major discovery...
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