“Our results compare favourably with US commercial shale operations and are potentially world class.” — Mark Abbott, CEO of Egdon Resources
By Jonathan Leake
A giant gas field has been discovered under Lincolnshire that could fuel the UK’s entire needs for a decade, reducing dependence on imports and generating tens of thousands of jobs, an energy company has claimed.
Egdon Resources, the business behind the discovery, is to formally announce its findings at an energy industry conference later this month.
Its preliminary work suggests that the field, centred on the market town of Gainsborough, is so large that it could benefit the whole UK economy, boosting growth through more jobs, increased tax revenue and cheaper energy.
If subsequent drilling confirms the scale of the find, it is likely to reignite the debate about fracking – and create a potential clash between Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, and Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, as the Government attempts to chart a course between net zero and economic growth.
Fracking, the process of extracting gas by pumping ultra-high pressure liquid underground to crack the bedrock, is currently banned in Britain after previous work triggered small earthquakes.
Exploiting the field would mean ending this moratorium as well as lifting a ban on new oil and gas licencing introduced by Mr Miliband, whose own constituency of Doncaster North is close to part of the discovery.
It comes after Ms Reeves announced Labour’s support for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, despite longstanding opposition to the scheme from Mr Miliband. Earlier this year the Chancellor emphasised that growth, not net zero, was the Government’s “No 1 mission”.
Mark Abbott, chief executive of Egdon, said the company had spent several years quietly investigating the extent of the field, including test drilling. The results have since been scrutinised by geologists, with Deloitte commissioned to analyse the economic impacts of developing the field.