Financial Times: Shale gas seen as unlikely bet for Russia

Asked whether Europe could replicate the US shale gas revolution, Alexander Medvedev, head of Gazprom’s export arm, cites an example from history.

“Trotsky dreamt that the Russian Revolution would spread to the rest of the world, including the US,” he says. “Fortunately for world civilisation, it didn’t.”

It’s the same, he adds, with shale. Environmental opposition to fracking, exorbitant costs and high population density mean it will never catch on in Europe – at least not on anything like the scale seen in North America.

But others are less complacent. Speaking recently to lawmakers, Russia’s president-elect Vladimir Putin says shale can “seriously transform the structure of the hydrocarbon market”.

“Russian companies must address this now,” he adds.

So far, the unconventional gas boom has had little tangible impact on Gazprom.  MORE