Caspian Report - Issue: 07 - Spring 2014

EU Commissioner
for Energy,
Gunther Oettinger
during a press
conference on
offshore oil and
gas on October
27, 2011 at the EU
Headquarters in
Brussels.
In the view of the European Commission,
Europe should at least be
able to produce sufficient volumes
of domestic shale gas to replace its
depleting conventional gas reserves,
so as not to become more dependent
on imports from unreliable suppliers
or politically unstable countries.
In November 2012, the European
In June 2013, the British Geological Survey
published a new report showing that UK
shale gas reserves, up to 40 tcm in England
alone.
Parliament followed the European
Commission’s cautious policies by
adopting two resolutions of the environmental
and the industry and
energy committee (ITRE) that favour
unconventional gas exploration,
albeit calling for “robust regulatory
regimes.”
But the Commission itself is politically
divided; while the energy department
favours European shale
gas projects as a means of enhancing
energy supply security and economic
competitiveness, the Environmental
and Climate Protection Department
is presently considering an EU-wide
regulation on methane emissions,
which may further complicate the
EU shale gas projects at this critical
stage.
United Kingdom
Despite the spread of ‘Nimbyism’
in Britain, the UK government, its
Department of Energy and Climate
Change, a parliamentary commission
and new government commissioned
reports by the Universities of Durham
and Aberdeen on the environmental
risks all support shale gas exploration
and development projects.
In December 2012, the British government
lifted a ban (in place since
May 2012). In June 2013, the British
Geological Survey published a new
report showing that UK shale gas reserves,
up to 40 tcm in England alone,
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CASPIAN REPORT, SPRING 2014