Preface. The congressional record is full of senators, representatives, and witnesses trying to sell U.S. shale “fracked” gas as LNG to Europe so that they aren’t beholden to Russia. Well uh-oh, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the chickens have come home to roost, and there really aren’t good alternatives for Russian oil, which was especially suited for diesel fuel and was 10% of world oil production (though on the cusp of declining due to corruption with profits going into oligarch’s Swiss and offshore bank accounts rather than maintaining and improving the oil and natural gas infrastructure).
Hutzler is wrong by the way about Europe’s shale gas reserves — the infrastructure of pipelines isn’t there as it was in the U.S. for conventional oil and gas, the U.S. doesn’t have enough experts here in the U.S., the fracked sand may be difficult to get in Europe (essential for drilling), there are stricter rules on land use and environmental laws and s on.
Alice Friedemann www.energyskeptic.com Author of Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy; When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, Barriers to Making Algal Biofuels, & “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers”. Women in ecology Podcasts: WGBH, Planet: Critical, Crazy Town, Collapse Chronicles, Derrick Jensen, Practical Prepping, Kunstler 253 &278, Peak Prosperity, Index of best energyskeptic posts
HRG. 113-623. 2014-7-22. U.S. Security implications of international energy and climate policies and issues. U.S. Senate 113th congress
MARY HUTZLER, DISTINGUISHED SENIOR FELLOW, INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY RESEARCH, BERLIN, MD
EUROPE ’S NATURAL GAS SUPPLIES
According to the Energy Information Administration, Europe has an estimated 470 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas resources, around 80% of the U.S. estimated endowment of 567 trillion cubic feet. (1)
Europe is worried about continually receiving the 30% of its natural gas supplies that it receives from Russia, but instead of embracing hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling on domestic soil, it is looking toward the United States to export LNG to them.
According to a leaked document, the European Union is making its desire to import more oil and natural gas from the United States very clear in the discussions over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade deal. The EU is pressuring the United States to lift its ban on crude oil exports and make it easier to export natural gas to Europe. The EU emphasizes the TTIP’s role in ‘‘reinforcing the security of supply’’ of energy for the member countries, pointing to the political situation in the Ukraine as a key reason to relax rules against U.S. exports. ‘‘The current crisis in Ukraine confirms the delicate situation faced by the EU with regard to energy dependence,’’ the document states. ‘‘Of course the EU will continue working on its own energy security and broaden its strategy of diversification. But such an effort begins with its closest allies.’’ (2)
EU could start by developing its shale gas resources throughout its member countries.
Germany has proposed a prohibition against hydraulic fracturing through 2021.
France, which has the second-largest estimated shale gas resources in Europe, has a hydraulic fracturing ban through at least 2017
Bulgaria also forbids hydraulic fracturing. Poland, which has Europe’s largest technically recoverable shale gas resources at 148 trillion cubic feet, is interested in developing those resources, but has geology problems demonstrated by poor results from exploratory drilling. Several other European countries are now interested in developing their shale gas resources, such as the U.K., the Netherlands, Denmark, and Romania, but none of the European shale-gas exploration efforts are close to being ready for commercial development. (3)
(1) Energy Information Administration, Technically Recoverable Shale Oil and Shale Gas Resources: An Assessment of 137 Shale Formations in 41 Countries Outside the United States, June 2013. EIA Detailed 145 page report on European Natural Gas
(2) Huffington Post, Secret Trade Doc Calls for More Oil and Gas Exports to Europe, July 8, 2014.
(3) Europe wants the energy, but not the fracking, July 15, 2014.