IGas prepares to start drilling in Ellesmere Port

ENERGY firm IGas, now the UK’s largest shale gas player, has secured a new rig at a location in Ellesmere Port and expects to start drilling later in the year.

In the winter the firm’s exploratory site in Barton Moss, Salford, became a focal point for anti-fracking protestors who established a camp and disrupted the delivery of supplies.

Environmentalists claim fracking, which involves pumping water and chemicals deep under ground at high pressure, can pollute water supplies and the atmosphere. One group made these points on Monday during a day of protests which included the targetin of IGas’ London headquarters.

But the industry, and the Government, argues the gas is essential for the UK’s energy security and could drive a massive new industry, worth £33bn over the next 15 years.

Ellesmere Port is another exploratory site that will help the firm calculate the levels of shale gas in its licence area. It is using an existing planning permission which does not allow it to frack.

The company is still analysing the results from Barton and said information gathered from Ellesmere Port and third, unnamed, well will give it “sufficient information” to design an “appropriate hydraulic fracture program for wells in the area”.

“This will prove invaluable for future planning applications for potential shale wells and the ability to demonstrate the commerciality of gas extraction from these deep formations.”

Chief executive, Andrew Austin, said: “We are delighted to have secured a suitable rig for our exploration well at Ellesmere Port. This well, similar to the one we successfully drilled at Barton Moss earlier this year, is to further appraise the geology in the North West and another step in unlocking Britain’s onshore energy resources.”

The stock market-listed London-firm is now the biggest shale gas player by licence size after agreeing a £117m takeover of Dart Energy in May. The group has shale gas licences across the North West, mainly at sites along the Manchester Ship Canal to the Mersey Estuary, and Dart is exploring sites in Cheshire at Upton Heath and Farndon.