EU Observer: Public opinion stands in way of EU shale gas revolution

If the oil and gas industry thought that a US-style shale gas revolution would seamlessly find its way across the Atlantic, it has had a rude awakening. Getting public support for fracking in Europe risks descending into a street-fight between industry and environmental NGOs.

The UK government has been particularly gung-ho in its attitude to shale gas drilling, offering generous tax incentives to companies for fracking.

For their part, a number of drilling companies have promised that residents living near drilling sites will share in the profits, with plans to offer at least £100,000 (€116,000) to each community close to an exploratory well, of which there are likely to be thousands, together with a 1 percent cut of any profits if the well produces gas.

Prime Minister David Cameron and his finance minister George Osborne have become enthusiastic cheerleaders for natural gas drilling as they bid to be Europe's first country to emulate the US shale gas revolution.  MORE