The New York Times is reporting:
A slowdown in Europe’s efforts to exploit its shale gas reserves,
roughly 10 percent of the world’s deposits, could not come at a worse
time for Europe’s companies, which are already suffering from a
continental debt crisis and anemic growth and are becoming increasingly uncompetitive compared with rivals in the United States.
In America, energy-intensive industries like manufacturing and chemical
production have benefited from a drastic fall in fuel costs because of a
domestic energy boom in shale oil
and gas. Natural gas prices, for example, have fallen by almost 67
percent over the five years, and the United States is on track to become
the world’s largest oil producer by 2017, according to the
International Energy Agency.
Fuel costs for European companies, by contrast, remain roughly double
those of their American competitors, while many countries, particularly
in Eastern Europe, are dependent on natural gas
imports from Russia. Also, the Continent’s fossil fuel production has
fallen steadily over the last 10 years, even as global demand rises.
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