Scotsman: North Sea skills will drive shale gas ‘revolution’

Scotland is at the forefront of a “new energy revolution” according to the head of engineering giant Weir Group, who said skills learnt in the North Sea could help drive the development of shale gas.

Keith Cochrane said the UK’s reserves of unconventional oil and gas have the potential to boost the country’s tax revenues and energy security, and insisted that the industry is “environmentally respectful”.

The British Geological Survey estimates there could be about 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas under parts of northern England, which would meet Britain’s annual gas needs for more than 40 years even if only 10 per cent could be extracted. However, the process of “fracking”, which uses high-pressure chemicals to fracture rocks and release natural gas, has been criticised by environmental groups who argue it causes earthquakes and pollutes water.  MORE