Poland: The Only Place In The World Where Shale Gas Has Not Been Found -- Now The Rest of the Story

Updates

June 19, 2012:  The rest of the story. It turns out that it was not necessarily an issue of shale gas not being there. The regulators drove the operators nuts.

Exxon Mobil Corp's decision to pull the plug on its efforts to explore for shale gas in Poland isn't what's dousing its local rivals' enthusiasm for the unconventional resources prospects in the central European country, it's the bureaucratic apathy, industry participants said Tuesday.

The industry's frustration with Poland's red tape is palpable as people accustomed to the friendly and expedient regulators of North America collide with government bodies which haven't completely shaken off the mentality of central planning.

Go to the link to read a most incredible story. I am left "speechless." Come this winter, if the Poles complain of "their" natural gas from Russia getting cut off, I won't have any sympathy.

Original Post

It seems that not a day goes by without a story of another natural gas discovery, conventional, unconventional, or otherwise. Here we have a story where they did not find natural gas/shale. XOM announces plans to leave Poland.