Not now but down the road, it is possible.
Eugene Gerden is a European-based energy and transportation writer.
While U.S.-based shale gas developers are having luck domestically, they are stymied overseas, for now. For how long?
For example, Chevron has recently announced termination of its project for the production of shale gas in Poland.
According to initial plans of the United States and other western oil and gas majors, Poland and Ukraine should have become centers of the European shale gas production, mainly because of huge reserves of both countries. But the ongoing economical instability there and the ever declining global oil prices have forced those western companies to revise their initial plans.
Besides Chevron, other major oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Total and Marathon Oil have delayed shale gas exploration in Poland and Ukraine over the past three years. To boot: Those same companies have eschewed Scotland, where the government has introduced a moratorium on the issuance of new licenses for the production of shale gas.
Shale gas production in recent months has become a subject of attacks in many European countries, mainly because of environmental risks. Several weeks ago, the Committee on Ecology of the British Parliament demanded that a ban be imposed on shale gas production in the UK - contrary to the position of the UK Prime minister David Cameron, who has long been supportive of shale gas exploration.