Debate is ongoing whether Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, believed to be severely hit by low Russian pipeline gas supply, should consider lifting its ban on fracking. Fracking for shale gas in Germany has been banned since 2017.
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” as it is more commonly known, is just one small method of the broader process of unconventional development of oil and natural gas. Fracking is a proven drilling technology used for extracting oil, natural gas, geothermal energy, or water from deep underground.
The Globe and Mail reported yesterday that Russia cut natural gas supply via Nord Stream to just 20% of the pipeline’s capacity. The further reduction in deliveries began just days after Gazprom restarted the pipeline at 40% capacity after regular 10-day maintenance.
Before that, Russian supply was reduced to 40% of Nord Stream’s capacity, after Gazprom said a turbine sent to Canada for repairs had been held up by the Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Canada sent the turbine to Germany, but it has not reached Russia yet.
The report stated that amid growing concerns about German energy and gas supply this winter and the potential massive fallout on major industries, such as the chemicals industry, political parties in Germany are now debating whether to waive the ban on fracking and at least allow exploration and testing.
The ruling Social Democrats and the Greens, are said to be opposed to lifting the fracking ban, while conservative parties favor exploration in view of the coming winter shortages.
“The significant expansion of domestic natural-gas production will make us independent and restore our energy sovereignty,” Michael Kruse, energy policy spokesman of the libertarian Free Democratic Party (FDP) told The Globe and Mail’s Claudia Scholz.
According to data from BVEG, the German Federal Association of Natural Gas, Petroleum and Geoenergy cited by The Globe and Mail, Germany has shale gas reserves of more than two trillion cubic meters, or 20 times the country’s annual gas consumption of 100 billion cubic meters.
Germany is also debating whether to end nuclear power generation at the end of 2022, as planned, in light of the gas crisis. Germany has three remaining nuclear power plants operating, and they should be shut by the end of this year under a plan the country adopted to stop the use of nuclear energy following the Fukushima disaster, the report said.
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