LONDON — The United States has turned into an energy superpower in recent years thanks largely to fracking. In Britain, which has sought to replicate some of that success, the fracking industry is struggling to survive.

In the latest setback, the government’s commissioner for facilitating fracking resigned over the weekend, complaining about rules so restrictive they have made it all but impossible for the industry to grow. “A perfectly viable and exciting new industry,” the commissioner, Natascha Engel, wrote in her resignation letter, “is in danger of withering on the vine.”

Geological surveys and drilling have suggested that there are large amounts of gas lurking under some parts of the country. But Britain’s fledgling shale industry has faced unrelenting local opposition and regulations that require work be halted when fracking causes tremors. Test drilling and fracking, which involves pumping water, sand and other substances down wells at high pressure to free up the gas, have all but stopped in Britain.

In an interview, Ms. Engel, whose official title was commissioner for shale gas, said she was particularly frustrated by Britain’s rules that force companies to suspend operations when tremors exceed magnitude 0.5, compared with thresholds of about 2.0 and higher for fracking in North America.