Watching The World: Shale gas battle looms in Europe

March 15, 2010
The international oil and gas industry is fast learning the importance of shale gas, and the excitement over the relatively new resource is growing—especially in Europe.

The international oil and gas industry is fast learning the importance of shale gas, and the excitement over the relatively new resource is growing—especially in Europe.

The driving force of this new direction for the industry is to be found in the US, where recently discovered deposits of shale gas are so large that industry experts believe the country has enough supply to last for a century.

This extra supply and the United States' newfound self-sufficiency are said to have created a worldwide gas glut that has driven down prices. But a temporary price glitch won't stop international oil companies (IOCs).

To the contrary, many IOC's are now said to be scouring millions of acres of European countryside and are purchasing the rights to develop the gas trapped in the continent's shale beds.

US success story

These IOC's apparently believe that they may be able to repeat the success of the US shale gas revolution in Europe, a process that could eventually undermine the power of current suppliers—Russia in particular.

Weakening Russia's hold over the European Union's energy supply is a prospect that doubtlessly plays well in Brussels, especially given the kinds of problems Ukraine has had with Russian supplies in recent years.

But there are still obstacles to be faced before the EU can begin to think of shale gas as the high road to energy independence. Local opposition could be one of the main obstacles, if the US experience is to be fully considered.

Hydraulic fracturing, of course, is the main concern, with environmentalists claiming that the process can, and has, contaminated underground aquifers. That argument has played well in New York City, where opposition is mounting against shale gas development anywhere in New York state.

But fracing is hardly the only problem taken up by opponents of shale gas development. There is also a question of water pollution coming from an altogether different source: cinders laid down to provide traction for trucks in snowy conditions.

Cinders pollute

According to one resident in Wetzel County in West Virginia, the company developing shale gas reserves in the area also pollutes the water and air when it lays down "tremendous volumes" of cinders so its trucks can gain traction.

When the snow melts, the cinders mix with the water, creating "a lava flow of cinders going into the creeks," according to resident Raymond Renaud, who belongs to the Wetzel County Action Group.

"The worst part about this, when it dries up, you're inhaling tremendous volumes of cinder dust. The summer irritant for us is dust. People have to power wash their homes," Renaud told local media.

Europeans, who often tend to take environmental issues more seriously than their US counterparts, will doubtlessly be concerned at hearing such remarks. But Europeans also will have to balance those issues with the knowledge that undeveloped shale gas could leave them at Russia's unpredictable mercy.

More Oil & Gas Journal Current Issue Articles
More Oil & Gas Journal Archives Issue Articles
View Oil and Gas Articles on PennEnergy.com