| Ending the Russian stranglehold would be a very good thing, and make freezing in winter so much less likely for the countries of Europe. |
American technology to produce shale gas is unleashing a scramble for drilling rights in Poland, where experts believe vast reserves of unconventional gas exist that could help to weaken Russia's grip on Europe's energy supplies.Unless Obama and the US Department of Interior reserve all the land for wilderness, just like they do in Utah and Colorado ...
ConocoPhillips is poised to launch Poland's first shale gas drilling programme next month near Gdansk on the Baltic coast. Two other American oil groups -- Exxon-Mobil and Marathon -- and Talisman Energy, of Canada, are set to follow.
So American oil companies can search for natural gas in Poland but not in the US ...
The technology has transformed America's energy industry and driven gas prices to their lowest level in years.
Wood Mackenzie, the oil and gas research group, estimates that there could be as much as 48 trillion cubic feet (1,36 trillion cubic metres) of unconventional gas stretching across northern and central Poland. The gas, which does not lie in conventional reservoirs but inside tight rock formations, has become accessible only recently through the use of new hydraulic fracturing technology developed in the United States.
If confirmed, Wood Mackenzie's estimate would boost the European Union's proven reserves of natural gas, which stand at 101 trillion cubic feet, by 47 per cent and be enough to make Poland, which imports 72 per cent of its gas, self-sufficient for the foreseeable future.
And, not coincidentally, to free itself from the embrace of the Russian bear.