We take this opportunity of collating several snippets/observations. Noted:
Europe has ( so they tell us ), vast reserves of shale gas particularly in France and Poland. Apologists claim that a similar boom to that being experienced in the USA could occur here. One clown even compared the Texan experience to the Sussex location. We feel they miss the point - widely.
In Europe shale strata are located far deeper in the ground than in the US which has direct implications for environmental and public health risks ( not to mention the safety of operatives ) and of course the small matter of increased extraction costs.
Economic incentives are extremely limited ( notwithstanding the ridiculous tax breaks announced by Cameron's 'last chance saloon' administration. In the US owners of land likely to be accessed by fracking companies share the profits because the resources underground belong to the property owners. In Europe, it is generally the host government that reaps the benefit ( notwithstanding the paltry sums now being offered in the UK to threatened communities ).
In mainland Europe, population density is roughly 3x that of rural Pennsylvania and this has obvious implications for logistics ( up to 500 truck movements per well just for earth removal ), noise and visual desecration not to mention flares and airborne methane. From this it will be seen that profitability ( in the final analysis ) will be way down. Of course, once the share price ( on the back of unsubstantiated claims concerning likely resources 'sous-sol' ) have risen sharply and then fallen just as sharply - who cares.
For the record. Hydraulic fracturation is currently banned in France, the Czech Republic, suspended in Belgium, Ireland, Bulgaria and neighbouring Romania.
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