North Yorkshire fracking firm Third Energy plots £500m stock market float

A fracking firm, which has a licence to drill for shale gas on the North York Moors, is understood to be planning a £500m stock market float.

Third Energy hopes to raise £250m from the move as its owners Global National Resource Investment (GNRI) are believed to have appointed investment bankers from Lazard to explore a listing, according to the Sunday Times.

Third Energy has a licence to drill for shale gas in the vale of Pickering on the North York Moors.

The company is likely to be looking to capitalise on Theresa May’s plans to boost fracking in the UK if elected next month.

The Conservative manifesto said shale gas discovery and extraction has been a “revolution” in the US and that it “will therefore develop the shale industry in Britain.”

However, the party has urged fracking firms to enter into better dialogue with local communities. Third Energy has come into conflict with local residents over concerns about impact of the fracking process on homes and communities.

Fracking involves digging multiple wells, injecting liquid at high pressure into boreholes within the wells, forcing open fissures to extract oil or gas.

It has been restricted or banned in some countries due to the potential for seismic activity and polluting effects.

The process down each well takes approximately six weeks.

GNRI declined to comment on the listing plans while Third Energy told the media that any suggestion of an IPO is “pure speculation in this stage of our development.”

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