It will take five years and the drilling of 20 to 40 fracking wells to judge whether the UK has a viable shale gas industry, the chairman of the only company yet to have used modern hydraulic fracturing techniques here has told the Guardian. Lord Browne of Madingley, former chief of BP and now chairman of Cuadrilla... ... Cuadrilla has already spent more than £100m on exploration, the company told the Guardian last year, but so far has only fracked at one site.
Shale gas is no more than a long-term possibility for the UK and should not be a key plank of energy policy for the next decade, one of the most senior Liberal Democrats in the cabinet has warned.
Vince Cable, the business secretary, told the Guardian shale gas would not be a reality in the UK for at least a decade, and that energy policies should focus on renewable energy...
... energy companies would face a freeze on domestic energy bills if Labour should win the next election. "The Labour party freezing energy has freaked out some energy companies. They do not know if they will be allowed to make money. That is a political intervention that has not been helpful."
