However, in emerging industries, particularly
those which are highly regulated, it is not
always as straightforward for innovators to
know where their key commercial territories
will be over the next ten or twenty years.
The European shale oil and gas industry is
an example of such an industry.
The first layer of uncertainty in this industry
stems from the oil and gas resources.
Exploration is in its infancy in Europe and as
a result there is a high level of uncertainty
over which European countries possess
shale resources (or ‘plays’) that are
economically or even technically recoverable
using current extraction technologies.
Shale plays within Europe are thought to be
deeper, more dispersed and within more
challenging geological formations than
those found in territories where the shale
oil and gas industry is more established
such as the US. The European landscape
therefore presents unique challenges, and
these technical challenges may require
innovative solutions to be developed in
order to make mainstream shale extraction
economical. In addition to this, European
topography can make facilitating shale
extraction more challenging, in that
plays may be spread across a number
of countries, and the physical nature of
the topography can make it challenging
to provide resources such as water and
proppant to extraction sites. Existing
extraction solutions, which have been
developed for sites where resource delivery
and storage is not an issue, may not be the
optimum solutions for the European
shale industry.
The European shale market is therefore
crying out for innovation to provide
technologies which can increase the
safety of shale extraction and improve its
The first beneficiary
of the Unitary Patent?
Most industries today are fairly well established, meaning that companies operating within those
industries have a good understanding of their key manufacturing and sales territories, and can
take appropriate steps to protect their markets in those territories using patents. For example, an
automotive company which holds patents in the US, France and Germany is likely to be well placed
in terms of being able to secure and protect a market share.
Oil and Gas
10
IP review
spring
2017
European shale oil and gas
