UK’s Shale Gas Could Fuel UK for 9 Years, Says New EIA Report
The US government’s Energy Information Administration revised upward its estimates of UK shale gas resources, reporting that ‘technically recoverable’ shale gas reserves are at 26 trillion cubic feet (tcf). According to the EIA, the annual UK gas consumption of gas is about 3 trillion cubic feet.
The EIA estimates that the Carboniferous Shale Region, which includes the Bowland Sub-basin of Lancashire, accounts for more than 90% of the assessed areas.
“EIA/ARI’s current estimate of the UK’s shale gas resources is about 10% higher than our initial 2011 assessment, while new shale oil potential has been added,” reads the report published on Monday.
The EIA reported for the first time the presence of shale oil in the UK, estimating that 700 million barrels could be technically recoverable.
These figures refer to the amount of shale gas and shale oil that can be extracted with the current technologies. They do not consider that these resources may be not economic viable or that technology could improve.
UK companies recently released estimates about gas in place, which is the total amount of gas in the ground. IGas estimates that the volume of ‘gas initially in place’ (GIIP) associated with shales in the North West could range from 15.1 trillion cubic feet to 172.3 trillion cubic feet. Cuadrilla estimates there could be 200 tcf gas in place in the Bowland shale of Lancashire.
But it is not just a matter of reserves. The UK is also one of the European countries with the best conditions to pursue its shale gas and shale oil potential, writes the US Energy Information Administration.
“Within Europe, the United Kingdom stands next after Poland in pursuing its shale gas and shale oil potential. However, with a small existing onshore conventional oil and gas industry, the UK has limited domestic service sector capability for shale exploration,” reads the report, explaining that political opposition to shale development is greater in the UK than in Poland but less than in France or Germany.
In 2010, the British Geological Survey (BGS) conducted on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) a preliminary study. BGS’ initial estimate was 5.3 tcf of recoverable shale gas resources. The BGS is now working on a new report, expected by July 18.