Ineos to invest upto US$1 bln in shale gas exploration across North England and Scotland

21-Nov-14

Petrochemicals giant Ineos has unveiled plans to invest up to US$1 bln in drilling hundreds of wells to explore for shale gas across northern England and Scotland, as per The Telegraph. The company said it had applied for numerous exploration blocks in an ongoing licensing round run by the Department of Energy and Climate Change and, if successful, it would become "the biggest player in the UK shale gas industry". In August Ineos bought a 51% stake in the shale section of the PEDL 133 exploration block, covering 127 sq spanning the Firth of Forth and including Grangemouth, Falkirk and much of Stirling. It followed that up in October by buying an 80% stake in the neighbouring 154 sq mile PEDL 162 block to the east. It hopes to begin drilling in these licences next year and in any new licences it wins in 2016.