On March 25 last year, a North Sea catastrophe was narrowly avoided when a serious gas leak forced the shutdown of the Elgin/Franklin fields complex for the best part of 12 months.
This is a very interesting period for the gas industry both in the UK and overseas. The gas sector's share of total energy consumption has generally increased over the last decade, at the expense of oil and coal.
A couple of issues ago, Dick Winchester suggested in his Both Barrels column that shale gas could perhaps one day play a major role in satisfying the UK's hunger for energy. After all, he said, if shale gas can work in North America, it can just as easily succeed in Europe.
