US fracking no competitive advantage, KfW Economic Research paper says
ECEEE News, November 5, 2013A paper from KfW Economic Research from April 2013 entitled _Fracking – you snooze, you lose?_ by Tobias Rehbock and Peter Kolbe has gained relatively little attention. But as the fracking debate in Europe heats up, the paper seems to offer a very timely input to the European debate, not only on fracking but on competitiveness, growth and jobs in general.
In recent years, a new method of extracting hitherto inaccessible natural gas and oil deposits has gained importance.Hydraulic fracturing or, in short, fracking is being pursued in the hope of making the USA virtually independent from oil and natural gas imports by 2035.
In addition to environmental concerns associated with this extraction method, the question is to what extent the regional energy price differences generated by fracking affect the international competitiveness of the US economy, e.g. in comparison with Germany.