LONDON, ENGLAND - An article in Sunday's Financial Times questions whether U.S. regulations will limit the acceptance of natural gas, even as the oil and gas industries work together to promote its acceptance.

A method of extracting gas from tightly packed shale rock has been found, which has raised estimates of U.S. supplies from 30 to 100 years (assuming current usage rates).

For the gas industry, such a find offers tremendous benefits: natural gas is 50 percent less carbon-intensive than coal and 30 percent less than oil, and an existing transport infrastructure gives it an edge over renewable fuels.

However, Capitol Hill has begun scrutinizing the impact of shale gas out of concerns of the potential impact on the environment and human health caused during the drilling process.

The controversial process, "fracking," involves drilling down up to 20,000 feet and then sideways up to 4,500 feet, with chemical-laced water and fine sand pumped through, fracturing the shale rock.

"'Fracking?? is controversial and is likely to be so over the next few years,???? said Joseph Coote, head of the Global Energy Practice at consultancy Arthur D. Little. "It is suggested that the U.S. may contain upward of 100 years of supply, but this may come at a significant cost and create public uproar challenging the pursuit of these reserves."

Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sent requests to eight companies about the chemicals they use and the EPA announced earlier in the month that it will investigate the potential effects that hydraulic fracturing might have on water quality and public health.

Recognizing the trend, ExxonMobil, when it contracted in December to buy shale specialist XTO Energy for $41 billion, included a clause that it could walk away from the deal if regulation made extraction uneconomical. However, the company expects the deal to close in the second quarter.

Spectra Energy, a natural gas infrastructure company, is also optimistic about shale??s future. "I don??t think gas is going away. We now have more than 100 years supply,???? said Dorothy Ables, Spectra Energy??s chief administrative officer.

Louisiana stands to benefit from shale gas extraction, and it firmly backs the industry.

"I believe there is an agenda to move us off fossil fuels prematurely," said Scott Angelle, Louisiana secretary of natural resources. "But we do have this natural gas resource. It is clean. It is abundant. It is cheap. The conversation must be real. There is no panacea. We cannot go to renewables overnight."