INEOS makes a move towards shale gas

International chemicals company INEOS says it is planning to invest $1bn in UK onshore shale gas exploration and appraisal, with substantial further investment to follow if the company moves into development and production.

If the company wins all the petroleum exploration and development licences it has bid for from the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), the company would become the biggest player in the UK’s shale gas industry. The vast majority of the INEOS bids are in Scotland and the North of England.

INEOS believes that an indigenous shale gas industry would transform UK manufacturing and that the gas can be extracted safely and responsibly. The company is already the owner of two substantial shale licences in Scotland, in addition to investing a further £400mn in an ambitious project to bring US Shale gas to Grangemouth. The company has also announced plans to give local communities 6% of the revenues from any shale gas it produces (4% going to home and land owners above the well and 2% to the wider local community).