Atlas
Database Wells
Impact Analysis

TOOLS

Atlas

The First European Atlas of Unconventional Hydrocarbons is an interactive information and data sharing web map application developed by the European Commission in collaboration with European national geological surveys. The online application renders on maps location of unconventional hydrocarbons basins and plays and presents within these assessment units results of the first European scale common methodology applied for calculating resource assessment. The resulting maps can be overlaid on top of background information about environment risk, socio-economic, industrial activity or policy indicators. The Atlas allows wide range of users, from citizens to member states authorities, energy experts or scientists, to retrieve from single source custom information about unconventional hydrocarbons.

Database

In order to enhance the overall level of transparency and enable close monitoring of environmental impacts of the unconventional hydrocarbons exploration or production activities, the Commission has set up an Unconventional Hydrocarbons Database providing an EU-wide inventory of planned and existing unconventional oil and gas wells. Its aim is to make available data as called for in the Recommendation using 2014/70/EU on minimum principles for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons using high-volume hydraulic fracturing, inter alia information published by Member States and operators. The interactive online platform is expected to consist of site-specific information such as:  administrative information (permits, licenses, etc.); technologies and operations; geological aspects; use of fracking products and chemicals in the EU; environmental aspects (including baseline, monitoring results, environmental impact assessments, etc.); and, risks (including induced seismicity, releases, emissions, etc.).

IMPACT ANALYSIS TOOL

The European Commission recently commissioned a study for modelling the economic impacts of unconventional hydrocarbons resources on global energy markets and implications for Europe future energy markets. The Impact Analysis Tool Widget allows users to browse and display these modelling results. The modelling explored quantitatively the potential development of unconventional resources at global scale, and its possible impacts on energy markets through a scenario analysis. Four scenarios are built as a combinations of assumptions on 4 different parameters: temperature increase (range) corresponding to 2 different climate scenarios identified in the IPCC's fifth assessment report; the potential development of unconventional hydrocarbons resources (low/high); the costs of extraction and production of unconventional resources (low/high); the worldwide development of the gas infrastructure, which includes assumptions on investments in LNG and pipelines (low/high); projections of the world energy demand (low/high).