HELSINKI, March 15 (Reuters) - The chairman of oilmajor Royal Dutch Shell called on Europe to betterexploit opportunities in shale gas, telling a Finnish newspaperthat the region risked losing the battle of economic efficiencyto the United States' shale boom.
"Europe must make its energy policy more competitive,"Jorma Ollila said in an interview with Tekniikka & Talous.
"Shale gas has given the United States a competitiveadvantage as their gas is cheap. That leads to cheap electricityand lower production costs."
Shell secured China's first product sharing contract forshale gas a year ago, and signed a $10 billion shale gas dealwith Ukraine earlier this year. Yet France, estimated to haveEurope's largest reserves at around 180 trillion cubic feet, hasbanned the procedure of extracting shale gas known as fracking.
Environmentalists say fracking, which involves pumping vastquantities of water and chemicals at high pressure through drillholes to prop open shale rocks, could increase seismic risks andpollute drinking water. Advocates say a higher proportion of gasuse would help curb carbon dioxide emissions.
Ollila said it would take until the 2040s or 2050s foralternative energies such as solar power and biomass to beginproducing at significant levels, and that shale gas wouldprovide a way to help curb emissions in the meantime.
"As many countries have said no to nuclear power, gas is byfar the most advantageous by its price as well asits environmental impact."
Ollila has been board chairman at Shell since 2006. He isbest known for being CEO of Nokia from 1992 to 2006.While he is credited for leading Nokia's transformation from arubber boots and TVs conglomerate into a global leader in mobilephones, he is also blamed for a slow response to the smartphonerevolution led by Samsung and Apple. Hestepped down from his role as Nokia chairman last year.
