26 January 2014 – British Prime Minister David Cameron has urged Europe against imposing any limits on shale gas exploration, arguing the resource could be a “fresh driver” for economic growth.
Speaking to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Cameron said that any European moves to impose “burdensome, unjustified and premature” regulations on shale extraction would cause investment to go elsewhere, the BBC reported.
Cameron pointed out that shale was “flooring” energy prices in the US and adding hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs by incentivising industry growth.
He also welcomed this week’s decision by the European Commission to drop the idea of new EU-wide shale regulations in favour of non-binding environmental guidelines.
Dozens of oil & gas industry leaders from around the world are attending the annual economic forum in the Swiss ski resort town, including Christophe de Margerie of French major Total, which boosted UK shale’s prospects with its entry to the play earlier this month.
For its part, Greenpeace disputed the prime minister’s view that the UK economy could be boosted by shale gas.
Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven said that Cameron “could do so much more for the UK if he took off his fracking blinkers and saw the real benefits of supporting the UK renewable energy sector that has the potential to be a world leader”.
*Bill Lehane – Upstreamonline
