WILL SHALE GAS GIVE UK AIR COMPRESSORS A BOOST?

Shale gas extraction – commonly called ‘fracking’ in Britain – is still an emerging technology here, but could give the UK air compressors market a boost in the years to come. The USA is a good signpost of how fracking could affect other industries as it becomes more widespread over here, and it’s good news for the UK air compressors market. In particular, in the USA, where shale gas extraction is a more mature market in its own right, the greater availability of domestic shale gas has led to many companies ‘reshoring’ their industrial activity, according to Frost & Sullivan. These formerly outsourced activities have led to rising demand for air compressors in the US, just as might happen in the UK as fracking becomes more commonplace. However, fracking is of course still a controversial technique among many British communities; the Frost report notes though that US food manufacturers are also driving demand, this time for oil-free air compressors in particular. “As demand for packaged and convenience food grows, new opportunities will open up for air compressor market participants,” says Frost & Sullivan industrial automation and process control research analyst Sakthi Sobana Pandian.

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