...there is still a long and high-risk road to any future returns, and the collapse of shale gas prospects in Poland shows how difficult it can be.
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Investing in small-cap companies that could benefit from UK shale is extremely high-risk. At the moment, only the reserves of gas and oil have been proven, and it may be impossible to get it out of the ground economically.
There have been no well tests that have proven these new reserves are commercially viable.
The experience of the shale industry in Poland should come as a warning to would-be investors in the UK. Initial estimates by the US Department of Energy showed the largest reserves in Europe at more than 10 times those thought to be in the UK. Wells were drilled and gas flowed, but the fractures in the rock quickly closed, causing gas flow to reduce to a trickle
