Chemical giant Ineos claims the gas field in Nottinghamshire is the richest in UK history
THERESA MAY is today urged to back the fracking revolution as new tests signal the East Midlands is sitting on “30-years’ worth of gas”.
Ineos, Britain’s biggest private company, claims drilling results from its field in Nottinghamshire suggest “US levels” of shale gas under the soil.
Tests found an average level of 60.7 standard cubic feet per tonne of gas – compared with an average 39 (scf) at a vast shale field in Texas.
Ineos Shale chief operating officer Tom Pickering claimed it was the most significant drilling result so far in the short history of Britain’s shale industry.
He told The Sun: “It’s obviously early days but these are the highest readings in the UK we have ever seen.”
Geologists believe there could be 436 trillion cubic feet of gas in this part of the Bowland Basin. This test is consistent with that.
“With a recovery rate of 20 per cent that’s equivalent to 30 years’ worth of gas for the country. We believe this really is something to shout about.”
Ineos is now urging the Government to get fully behind fracking revolution by speeding up the planning process. It took two years to get the green light to drill a test well at its Tinker Lane sight in Nottinghamshire – when it hoped to begin within 13 weeks.
And it wants Ministers to honour a commitment to review strict rules that force firms to suspend fracking when earth tremors hit 0.5 on the Richter scale – equivalent to a kid bouncing a football.
Rival fracker Cuadrilla lost a planning appeal to drill in Fylde Lancashire after Communities Secretary James Brokenshire raised concerns over traffic congestion. The Government has also yet to announce whether it will remove the need for planning permission to drill exploratory shale wells like the one Ineos has just completed.
Mr Pickering said: “The industry is committed to the safe development of fracking. But now is the time for Ministers to really get behind it.”