Scotland began a consultation on whether to allow unconventional oil and gas extraction such as fracking, its government said on Jan. 31, with a vote expected at the end of 2017.
Substantial amounts of shale gas are estimated to be trapped in underground rocks, and the British government wants to exploit it to help offset declining North Sea oil and gas output.
However, hydraulic fracturing, which involves extracting gas obtained from rocks fractured at high pressure, has faced opposition from environmentalists and local campaigners and was banned in Scotland in January 2015 while the government there gathered information on its potential impacts.
"The Scottish government has a very important decision to make in determining the future of unconventional oil and gas," Paul Wheelhouse, Scotland's minister for business, innovation and energy, said in the consultation document.
"The consultation does not set out or advocate a preferred Scottish government position or policy. Instead, we want to create space for dialogue and allow different perspectives to come forward," he said.
The consultation is open to members of the public as well as industry.
Resources in central Scotland are estimated to hold at least 49.4 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of shale gas, the consultation said, with about 2% of this likely to be commercially viable for production.
Annual gas consumption in Scotland is about 150 Bcf per year, with about 78% of homes using gas as their primary heating fuel, the consultation said.
Recommended Reading
Eni Finds 2nd Largest Discovery Offshore Côte d’Ivoire
2024-03-08 - Deepwater Calao Field’s potential resources are estimated at between 1 Bboe and 1.5 Bboe.
Cronos Appraisal Confirms Discovery Offshore Cyprus
2024-02-15 - Eni-operated block partner TotalEnergies says appraisal confirms the presence of significant resources and production potential in the block.
Deepwater Roundup 2024: Offshore Africa
2024-04-02 - Offshore Africa, new projects are progressing, with a number of high-reserve offshore developments being planned in countries not typically known for deepwater activity, such as Phase 2 of the Baleine project on the Ivory Coast.
Valaris Updates Fleet Status
2024-02-19 - The backlog of these contracts and extensions is valued at $1.2 billion.
Rystad: More Deepwater Wells to be Drilled in 2024
2024-02-29 - Upstream majors dive into deeper and frontier waters while exploration budgets for 2024 remain flat.