Analysis of Shale Gas Exploration and Production Regulations - Lessons from Poland, Canada and the US

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review the theoretical and practical aspects of regulations concerning the exploitation of natural resources. Raw material policy is a public project, and therefore a decision tool known as Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) should be applied.  A nation's ownership of minerals is in practice frequently contested. Non-democratic governments have very often sought to collect revenues from natural resource exports in order to build their private fortunes. Such abuses are observed even today. The article begins with a short theoretical discussion about CBA. It then presents the issue of ownership of natural resources from the perspective of international law as well as the phenomenon of resource nationalism. The following section looks at the policy of granting concessions, a common tool used in regulating access to raw materials for exploration and production (E&P) companies. The empirical part of the paper analyses shale gas regulations in Poland, while also examining both the restrictiveness of rules adopted in this country and the legal preparedness of the Polish authorities to begin to use shale gas on a mass scale. Key findings of this part are enhanced with lessons from shale gas production in the US and Canada.