UK shale gas delay was 'scandalous': parliament panel member

London (Platts)--23Apr2013/815 am EDT/1215 GMT

The 18-month moratorium on shale gas drilling was a "scandal", member of the UK House of Commons select committee on climate change Peter Lilley said late Monday.  He was speaking at a panel session launching a report into the difficulties that the UK's energy policy is facing, "Power from Fossil Fuels," published by lobby group Carbon Connect, and written by a range of policy experts, engineers and academics.  Coal-fired generating plant is being closed down with immediate effect, and possible investors in new plant -- who are global players, with plenty of options about where to spend their money, as the co-chair of Carbon Connect Charles Hendry pointed out at the same event -- are facing a bewildering range of uncertainties.  Wholesale gas prices are too high to make combined cycle gas turbines profitable, and how the government will address this problem has not been decided....To Read More....