Scottish shale gas and oil 'no game-changer'

Another said they believed that Scotland was more likely to be prospective for shale oil than gas. They suggested there could be large amounts of oil in the ground – likely billions of barrels - but that it was not clear how much could be extracted.

A BGS report last month found there could be 4.4bn barrels of shale oil in the Weald basin of southern England – but warned that just a few per cent of that might be viable to extract.

But Michael Fallon, the energy minister, insisted it was nevertheless “in the national interest” to frack in the area, claiming the oil could still be a "significant addition to our home-grown energy supplies that we cannot afford to ignore".

By comparison there are estimated to be just 7 tcf of extractable gas reserves left in the North Sea, and 3 bn barrels of oil.

Alex Salmond’s SNP has primarily pushed for renewable energy in Scotland and has been far more cautious than the Westminster government about the prospects for shale.

It has indicated it will introduce tighter regulations for shale drilling, while Mr Salmond has said: “As we are a country with enough oil to meet our demand many times over, it is perfectly reasonable for us to proceed carefully on the undoubted opportunities for shale gas in Scotland.”

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