UK shale leader INEOS finds gas in Bowland shale similar to levels found in US Barnett shale
The Barnett shale has created hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment in the US
INEOS to carry out further tests in Spring of 2019
Britain's biggest private company and shale leader has today announced the successful results of recent tests in the Bowland shale. Working in conjunction with partners iGas, INEOS found very high concentrations of gas, comparable (and in some of the tests higher) than the average levels in the Barnett shale in Texas, where hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created and billions of dollars of investment secured.
The tests were carried out at Tinker Lane in Nottinghamshire and found an average level of 60.7 standard cubic feet (scf) per tonne of gas - the average for the Barnett shale is 39 scf per tonne.
Although these initial signs are promising for exploration of the basin as a whole, it is not yet clear that a commercial resource has been discovered in Tinker Lane. The site sits on the edge of the Bowland shale - further tests are scheduled to be carried out in the heart of the Bowland geography in the coming months where commercial drilling is much more likely to be viable.
Commenting on the results COO of INEOS Shale, Tom Pickering said: "It is obviously early days, but these initial findings are potentially hugely promising. These are the highest readings in the UK that we have ever seen and give a glimpse of the possibilities that UK shale can provide if given the chance. These are US levels of gas and could be truly transformational for the UK economy, bringing untold jobs and investment to some of the countries most deprived areas.
With Brexit just around the corner and the UK increasingly dependent on expensive foreign gas, now is the time for strong leadership to take advantage of a once in a generation opportunity to create an indigenous shale gas industry. Specifically, we need the right regulations on shale - making further testing both safe and viable."
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Richard Longden (INEOS) 0041 21 627 7063 or 0041 7996 26123
Mark Killick (Media Zoo) 020 7384 6980 or 07836 634449
Andrew McLachlan (Media Zoo) 020 7384 6980 or 07931 377162