Centrica PLC CNA

DJ Centrica: Shale Gas Won't Transform UK Energy

PARIS (Dow Jones)--The U.K.'s shale gas resources could prove to be important, but they won't totally transform the energy landscape in the U.K., said Mark Hanafin, managing director of the energy production division of U.K. utility Centrica PLC (CNA.LN) Thursday.

"U.K. shale production--I think it's important and we should develop it, but I don't think it's going to be a game changer," Hanafin told reporters on the sidelines of the Petrostrategies conference in Paris.

"I don't think it changes the British government's desire, which is the right one, to have a very diversified energy mix. That means nuclear, it means gas, it means renewables," he said.

Centrica, and its partner Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR), are still talking to the U.K. government about ways to support and minimize the risk of investment in a fleet of new nuclear power stations, Hanafin said.

There is a lot of work still to do before the final decision to build new plants can be taken at the end of this year, he said.

-By James Herron; james.herron@dowjones.com; +44 207 842 9317

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 03, 2012 11:31 ET (15:31 GMT)

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