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The US shale revolution is slowly grinding to a halt as the continuing low oil price takes its toll on the viability of fracking in the country.

Over the last few months on this blog, I have pointed out that barely a week goes by without new research raising serious health issues about fracking.

A report by the UK Task Force on Shale Gas has called for greater safety and transparency measures to be implemented before widespread fracking occurs across the country.

The UK fracking industry was left in total disarray yesterday after Lancashire County Council voted overwhelmingly to oppose fracking in the North West of the country.

A year on from the start of one of the biggest oil price plunges in recent history, it seems there is going to be no let-up in the turbulence caused by the oil price fluctuations.

Growing community and political resistance means that the US shale revolution will not be replicated in Europe, one of the gas industry’s leading figures has warned.

It is billed as Europe’s Number 1 shale gas conference. Next week, over 500 people will descend on Poland for the 5th annual “Shale Gas World Europe” conference.

n the blinkered rush to frack the globe - first in the United States, secondly in Europe and thirdly in the rest of the world - the oil industry always undermines the risks of the technology. But this brutal technique has a dangerous downside, ranging from air and water pollution, to the use of vast amounts of sands and chemicals. And then there is, of course, the huge volumes of water used in the fracking process.

In the diplomatic fallout from the crisis in Crimea, European leaders are said to be scrambling to reduce their dependence on Russian gas. You cannot negotiate with Putin if he holds all the aces.