"Hope all is well.

"Shale gas is extremely overhyped! The reality is that the US currently produces 55 bcf/day of gas and this will only rise to around 62 bcf/day by 2020. Plus, shale gas is very damaging to the ground water table, since it is released by pumping a toxic sludge of water, chemicals, gel and sand. In my opinion, shale gas is the latest fad in an energy starved world. Before this, we had ethanol and the tar sands. Today, the story has changed to shale gas and once again, the promoters are taking investors to the cleaners. Once again, similar to crude oil, the reserves of shale gas are meaningless. What matters is how much of this stuff we can produce on a daily basis! And Wood Mackenzie forecasts that American gas production will only increase by 14-15% over the next decade."

David Fuller's view All is well, thanks.

Speaking as one who thinks that shale gas probably is a 'game changer', I am always interested in the opposite view, if only to keep my analytical feet on the ground. However, I do not know how anyone could cite production forecasts for 2020 with any real conviction, especially one involving comparatively new and certainly still developing technology. We do have to be wary of fads but I do not see how shale gas is comparable to tar sands, let alone ethanol. Regarding "promoters", I am far less interested in the producers of shale gas, than in the consequences for other forms of energy and energy suppliers, not to mention the global economy, if shale gas turns out to be remotely close to becoming "the most important energy development since the discovery of oil", as some have claimed. Meanwhile, the future is revealed in small daily steps, not quantum-leap forecasts.