Last Friday I was in Washington, DC for the presentation of the International Energy Agency’s latest report on natural gas, “Golden Rules for A Golden Age of Gas.” It is a follow-up to last year’s IEA scenario describing the enormous gas potential now being unlocked by new combinations of technology.
According to IEA’s chief economist, Fatih Birol, who was the lead speaker at the event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the new report addresses the key uncertainty in delivering on that potential, including the potential of new gas supplies to “fracture established balances in the world energy system.” In IEA’s view the resources and technologies are in place, but environmental and social challenges represent serious potential roadblocks; overcoming those obstacles calls for a new set of principles along the lines of the ones included in the report. Fundamentally, as Dr. Birol put it, the industry must focus on its “social license to operate”, if it is to develop the massive global resources of shale and other unconventional gas to the extent now being envisioned. I believe many in the industry would agree that that license can’t be taken for granted.
Social license? My dog has a license, but I don’t like that either.
They want to produce the product. People want to buy the product. That’s all the license they need.