Re: Is fracking the answer? : Mon Dec 17, 2012 11:29 pm
The reality is that tight gas/oil were ALWAYS going to be tapped once the global cost of oil/gas from conventional sources rose to levels that made them economic. Oil and gas prices globally are never going to fall back to the levels they were in the past due to massive increases in consumption in developing countries. As a result, gas/oil reserves such as shale and coal bed methane, which have always been there, are seen as viable.The major issue isn't fracking (which is not required for all or even most tight oil/gas production) but the fact that the US experience is unique - they've effectively got a massive oversupply of gas for domestic use, a highly competitive wholesale market and very limited export capacity, which have led to the price of gas remaining at very low levels.
Those conditions will never exist in the UK. Even if you could replicate US production costs in the UK (which is highly doubtful), you will not see any 'cheap' oil/gas in the UK unless exports were banned. Even then, you'd most likely see companies simply choosing to exploit other financially superior options elsewhere.
The major environmental issues associated with shale are the destruction of huge swathes of countryside, together with the consumption of vast amounts of energy and a generally very 'dirty' manufacturing process. Have a look for pictures of shale oil plants and their surrounds in the US/Canada and it looks like something even 1970s eastern Europe would have banned. Fracking is very much a secondary issue compared to that.
