Category: United Kingdom

More than four billion barrels of oil could be present in shale formations lying underneath Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire – although it is doubtful how much of it could ever be recovered through fracking, according to a long-awaited government study. Research by the British Geological Survey assessed the shale oil and gas potential of the Weald Basin, an area stretching underneath the Home Counties, including the South Downs National Park. It concluded that shale formations in the basin could contain between 2.2bn and 8.5bn barrels of oil with a mid-case estimate of 4.4bn – which would be equivalent to approaching a decade of UK consumption. But the geologists, commissioned by the government to assess the potential reserves, played down the prospects for an onshore oil and gas bonanza in the area because of the difficulty of extracting it. Robert Gatliff, director of energy and marine geoscience at the […]

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Shale rock underneath some of the wealthiest counties in southern England may contain billions of barrels of oil, a government report said. The Weald basin, covering counties south of London including Surrey, Sussex and Kent, may have oil in place of as much as 8.6 billion barrels, according to a report published today by the British Geological Survey. It didn’t say how much could be extracted profitably. The U.K.’s current extractable oil reserves are 3.1 billion barrels, data by BP Plc (BP/) show. The report is likely to add to the controversy about drilling for shale oil and gas in the U.K. The government wants to develop the resources to cut energy costs and boost the economy. Opponents say the process of hydraulic fracturing, using high volumes of water, sand and chemicals to drill shale, can damage the environment. Last year, the BGS said the Bowland basin, which extends […]

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The government is expected to announce on Friday that the Weald Basin in southern England contains billions of barrels of shale oil, delivering a potentially huge boost to an embryonic industry in the UK. The announcement will set the scene for a stand-off between Britain’s small band of domestic shale explorers and the well-heeled residents of one of the Tories’ traditional heartlands . The government will unveil the results of a study by the British Geological Survey, the latest in its reports on unconventional oil and gas potential. It will focus on the Weald, an area spanning Sussex, Hampshire, Kent and Surrey. Last year, the BGS published a study of the Bowland Shale in northern England, which, it said, contained about 1,300tn cubic feet of gas. Even if only a tenth of that is extracted, it would be the equivalent of 40 years’ gas supply for the UK. The […]

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n 1970 the Club of Rome commissioned a study of the effect and limits of continued world-wide economic growth. The findings were published in 1972 as a report entitled “The Continue Reading

A British energy sector move toward shale natural gas is a move in the wrong direction and the public is taking notice, a British advocacy group said. British Friends of the Earth said it was frustrated by a decision by shale gas explorer Cuadrilla Resources to consider a hydraulic fracturing campaign in Lancashire. Cuadrilla said Monday it was listening closely to the public’s reaction to the potential drilling operations in Lancashire. Chief Executive Francis Egan said the engagement with the local community has been "extensive." Friends of the Earth campaigner Helen Rimmer said in response, however, the public was concerned about the risks of the fledgling shale effort in the country. "The public is rightly concerned that fracking causes more problems than it solves," she said . Cuadrilla Resources in March said it believes there are 200 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas in […]

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In just over five years Britain will have run out of oil, coal and gas, researchers have warned. A report by the Global Sustainability Institute said shortages would increase dependency on Norway, Qatar and Russia. There should be a "Europe-wide drive" towards wind, tidal, solar and other sources of renewable power, the institute’s Prof Victor Anderson said. The government says complete energy independence is unnecessary, says BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin. The report says Russia has more than 50 years of oil, more than 100 years of gas and more than 500 years of coal left, on current consumption. ‘Decisive action’ By contrast, Britain has just 5.2 years of oil, 4.5 years of coal and three years of its own gas remaining. France fares even worse, according to the report, with less than year to go before it runs out of all three fossil fuels. Coal, oil and gas […]

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In just over five years Britain will have run out of oil, coal and gas, researchers have warned. A report by the Global Sustainability Institute said shortages would increase dependency on Norway, Qatar and Russia. There should be a "Europe-wide drive" towards wind, tidal, solar and other sources of renewable power, the institute’s Prof Victor Anderson said. The government says complete energy independence is unnecessary, says BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin. The report says Russia has more than 50 years of oil, more than 100 years of gas and more than 500 years of coal left, on current consumption. ‘Decisive action’ By contrast, Britain has just 5.2 years of oil, 4.5 years of coal and three years of its own gas remaining. France fares even worse, according to the report, with less than year to go before it runs out of all three fossil fuels. Coal, oil and gas […]

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Oil production from the British waters of the North Sea could see its first increase in more than 10 years, a regional director for BP said. Monthly production from key field indices in the North Sea show a decline from 2.02 million barrels of oil per day in 2007 to 1.16 million bpd last year. Since January, however, production has recovered to 1.2 million bpd, BP regional vice president for Europe Peter Mather told a Platts oil summit in London. "This year could be the first in over a decade that U.K. offshore production does not fall, potentially leading to a slight increase in the next few years," he said Tuesday. Oil from the North Sea met around 65 percent of the British oil demand in 2012 and paid nearly $11 million in taxes to the government in 2012-13. The industry employs about 450,000 people. […]

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British shale gas explorer Cuadrilla could start testing delivery rates through the nation’s transmission system, Chief Executive Francis Egan said. Egan said gas from shale deposits in the country could start flowing through the nation’s transmission system by the end of next year, albeit at low volumes. "After the initial flow test period, which is up to 90 days, if the flow rates look good then we would want to tie the well into the gas transmission system and flow it for a longer period to assess the flow rate over 18 to 24 months," he said Sunday. The company was the target of major demonstrations last summer when its work in the southern village of Balcombe was viewed as a prelude to hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking. In January, Cuadrilla sent a letter to village residents saying it was applying for an extension […]

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