Financial Times: Resources: Shale gas will have its day in Europe – but not just yet
No go areas: growing numbers of people have protested against fracking, leading to greater restrictions
Unconventional gas seems set to transform central and eastern Europe’s energy market – though it may not be the “magic bullet” once seen as reducing the region’s reliance on imports from Russia.
Reduced estimates of reserves in some countries, difficult geologies, and environmentally-motivated moratoria on the hydraulic fracturing technology used to produce shale gas have slowed the outlook for its development in Europe as a whole, and in CEE countries.
But, even if production in CEE countries takes longer to develop than foreseen a few years ago, its own energy market may continue to see important knock-on effects from that explosive growth across the Atlantic. MORE