The authorities in the UK have said that it will not hold the next round of licensing for companies planning to explore for shale gas, until next year.

The government confirmed in a report that exploration for shale gas will not have a detrimental effect on the environment following serious concerns and protests at some sites in the country. The 14th round of shale licensing was originally expected to be held in 2010 but has been pushed to 2014 and is crucial for the industry as the energy availability and prices have raised concerns in the country.

The government in the UK has given a go ahead to some firms to continue an extraction technique known as `fracking' to exploit gas in the country. Firms including IGas and Cuadrilla have begun exploratory drilling for shale gas Fracking involves creating little explosions underground and then flooding with water and chemicals to obtain gas trapped in shale rocks.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said that the gas from shale gas extraction has helped bring a boom in production the US and resulted in a fall in process. He said that the same could be possible in the UK.