IGas welcomes Government shale report

IGas Energy, the company looking to extract coal bed methane from a number of sites owned by Peel Energy, has welcomed the Government’s report into the impact of shale gas operations.

The company said that it agrees with the view put forward by Chief Scientific Advisor David MacKay that if shale gas is to be part of the UK’s energy mix a good understanding of its potential environmental impact is required, and that it plans to get involved in the consultation period currently underway.

The company has interests in shale gas and coal bed methane sites across the region, and said recent results from its Ince Marshes well “demonstrated the presence of the Bowland shale in this area”, which could potentially double the firm’s pre-drill estimate of 4.6 trillion cubic feet of gas in place.

This has led to it looking for partners “to assess and then develop this potentially significant resource base”.

It added that any work to exploit the shale resource would only begin once the DECC publishes its final recommendations.