UK shale reserves may be smaller than previously estimated

Previous projections of the potential amount of shale gas under the UK may have been significantly overestimated, according to a new study.

 

Instead of 50 years of gas at the current rate of consumption, this new research suggests there are just five to seven years’ supply.

 

But the UK’s fracking industry, which represents companies like Cuadrilla, dismissed the report. They said the sample size was too small to draw serious conclusions.

 

Scientists at the University of Nottingham and the BGS have developed a new method for analysing the gas content of shale, which they believe gives them a more accurate estimate of the overall potential.

 

‘In terms of the total gas in place, the mean value from the 2013 study was 1,300 trillion feet of gas, we are struggling to get anywhere above 200 trillion feet, said Professor Colin Snape from the University of Nottingham, the lead author on the paper.

 

‘The data we’ve got from the two shales we’ve looked at are very consistent – and gas companies Cuadrilla and Third Energy have just published two papers in the last year where they have taken core samples and measured the gas that’s evolved and that data is very, very consistent with our own data.’

 

Source: Energy-pedia