Global Fracking On The Horizon; UK Lifts The Ban; Fracking Should Begin In Britain Next Year

Bloomberg is reporting:

The hydraulic fracturing of shale in search of oil and gas has hardly started outside the U.S., but that’s changing.

A record 400 shale wells may be drilled beyond U.S. borders in 2014, with most in China and Russia, according to energy consultants Wood Mackenzie Ltd. While that’s a fraction of the thousands of shale wells drilled in the U.S., the number of rigs used onshore in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region has increased 10 percent over the past year, data compiled by oil services company Baker Hughes Inc. show. Most of those rigs are meant for shale, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its Nov. 18 issue. 

Fracking in the U.K. will start next year, after the government lifted an 18-month moratorium imposed when a drilling company found it had accidentally caused earthquakes. Two utilities -- Centrica Plc of Britain and GDF Suez of France - - have bought stakes in the country’s drilling licenses to help bankroll the drillers and win a cut of any profit. 

Natural gas:

China has the largest shale gas reserves, estimated at 1,115 trillion cubic feet, followed by Argentina at 802 trillion cubic feet. In shale oil, Russia tops the list with about 75 billion barrels, according to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Australia, Poland, and Algeria all have big potential.