BP: there will be no shale revolution in Europe

BP Group’s chief economist for Russia & CIS, Vladimir Drebentsov, said at the presentation of the Statistical Review of World Energy 2015 and projections to 2035 in Baku that Europe’s needs for gas imports are going to grow as its own gas production declines.

He stressed that a shale gas revolution in Europe will not happen. "Major shale gas production in Europe is expected in the UK. But it will not affect the overall picture," Trend cited BP's chief economist as saying.

He also noted that there are several reasons for the decline in gas production in Europe, but one of the main ones is that the nature of the ownership of natural resources in the US and Europe is fundamentally different. "The owner of the land in the US is also the owner of the resources. In Europe, on the contrary, natural resources are owned by the state," Drebentsov noted.

"For example, one of the largest shale gas deposits is located near Vienna, but it's hard to imagine that Vienna will produce gas," the chief economist at BP noted.

"Europe will import liquefied natural gas mostly. But traditional imports of gas through pipelines will also be in demand," Drebentsov concluded.