Shale gas is a natural gas, trapped within shale or limestone formations which are perceived to be significant contributor to the worldwide energy supply.
A study released by the Baker Institute of Public Policy at Rice University suggested that an increase in shale gas production in the US and Canada can help in solving Europe’s energy crisis.
Currently, these European countries have a huge dependence on the feedstock and fossil fuel for their energy requirements.
The commercial production of Shale gas would prevent the dictatorship of Russia and Persian Gulf countries in charging higher prices for the gas they export to countries.
China is supposed to have the world’s largest shale gas reserves along with US and Canada and producing shale gas in commercial quantities. The report released by China Daily informed that two gas tankers built by the Sinopacific Offshore and Engineering would be shipping shale gas from the United States to Europe. These ships will eventually join the strong fleet of tankers operated by Swiss-headquartered petrochemical manufacturer Ineos Group Ltd. This group is upkeeping the carriage of around 800,000 tons of shale gas annually from the US to its European manufacturing plants. Simon Liang, Sinopacific Offshore and Engineering’s chairman and CEO, have confirmed that more than 2,000 people had been involved in the building of the two “Dragon Class” ships, which can be stimulus to the vast project of carrying shale gas to Europe.
