Country at the shale gas crossroads

By TERRY SLAVIN

 02 December 2011 01:16 GMT

W hen it comes to shale gas in Europe, it is easy to dismiss Germany. The US Energy Information Agency (EIA) puts its resource at 8 trillion cubic feet, a fraction of that of neighbouring France and Poland.

Besides, why would a greener-than-thou country that embraces renewable energy and rejects ­nuclear power be prepared to ­accept what in Europe has become a highly controversial fossil fuel?

However, Germany could be ­Europe’s dark horse for the shale industry, some industry observers believe.

US supermajor ExxonMobil has sewn up more than half the licences, with ­millions of acres licensed for ­exploration.

Other companies with explor­ation licences include BNK ­Petroleum, Canada’s Realm, and Germany’s Wintershall.

ExxonMobil’s chairman for central Europe Gernot Kalkoffen told Handelsblatt newspaper earlier this year that the state of North Rhine Westphalia, once…

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