First Shipment of US Shale Gas en Route to Europe

The first shale gas shipment has left the United States and is on its way to Europe, multinational chemicals giant INEOS said Thursday in a statement obtained by Sputnik.

EDINBURGH (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, the company’s tanker left Philadelphia bound for Rafness in Norway, carrying 27,500 cubic meters of US shale gas, the first in a series of gas shipments that INEOS Chairman Jim Ratcliffe claims will "revitalise" European manufacturing.

"Shale gas economics has revitalised US manufacturing. When US shale gas arrives in Europe, it has the potential to do the same for European manufacturing," Ratcliffe said in a statement given to Sputnik.

The company added that the supply of US shale gas to Europe would "complement" the reducing gas production in the North Sea.

INEOS owns one of the United Kingdom’s largest refineries at Grangemouth. It has secured shale gas exploration licenses for 700 square miles of Scotland. The company says it wants to invest 640 million pounds ($910 million) in fracking despite the Scottish government’s moratorium that bans exploratory work.