Oslo (Platts)--5Jun2013/808 am EDT/1208 GMT

Public acceptance is the biggest hurdle Europe faces in terms of developing a shale gas industry, speakers told delegates Wednesday at the 17th annual European Gas Conference in Oslo.

"The nascent industry is facing an uphill struggle," with public acceptance the chief issue, Tim Gould, senior energy analyst at the International Energy Agency said.

A European Commission official supported exploration, but agreed public consent would be key.

"Drilling should be allowed...but it's a difficult issue and it's down to public acceptance," said Jean-Arnold Vinois, honorary director at the EC energy directorate.

Gould said the exception to the public acceptance barrier was Poland.

Pawel Smolen, vice president of the management board for operations at the Polish electricity utility Polska Grupa Energetyczna, said the nation's public was on side and the country should be encouraged to explore the fuel's potential.

"[There have been] American reports that we can be another Norway, that we can export the gas to Russia. [It became a] political dream for the whole country," Smolen said.

He said it was too early to tell how much gas was available and the country needed to be allowed to explore the potential further for an honest debate to take place.

"Don't try to prohibit us, it doesn't make sense. We need to find out whether what we have to talk about is marginal or massive," he said. "But there are too many politics about it."

--Nathan Richardson, nathan.richardson@platts.com
--Edited by Jeremy Lovell, jeremy.lovell@platts.com

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