Can Europe benefit from shale gas?

20 January 2011 Last updated at 17:59 GMT

By Damian Kahya

Business reporter, BBC News

In a field near Kirkham, between Preston and Blackpool, they are preparing to drill a well that many say could change our energy outlook.

Up until recently, most economists had forecast gas prices rising sharply as supplies become scarce. Production in the North Sea is already falling fast.

But the recession saw prices fall and now the process of getting gas out of rocks , shale gas as it's known, could bring huge new supplies.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that "unconventional" resources such as shale could double our gas supply worldwide.

Gas for 100 years

At the well in Lancashire, they are preparing to see if the right conditions exist in the UK to get gas from shale.

Read the rest of the report here.

Source: BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/