INEOS is the big winner in today’s oil and gas licence announcement. The company has been granted 21 licences covering 37 blocks. The company now has exclusive rights to exploit oil and gas from 700,000 acres, to add to its existing licence area covering 300,000 acres.
The INEOS licences are in Yorkshire, the east midlands and Cheshire.
The chairman, Jim Ratcliffe, said:
“We are delighted with today’s announcement. The UK government has demonstrated it is determined to move forward with this exciting new industry. This is the start of a Shale gas revolution that will transform manufacturing in the UK. INEOS has the skills to safely extract the gas and we have already committed to both fully consult and to share the rewards with the local communities. ”
“We believe Shale gas could revolutionise UK manufacturing and we have the resources to make it happen, the skills to extract the gas safely and the vision to realise that communities must share in the rewards for it to be successfully developed.”
Other leading companies are Cuadrilla with eight licences, IGas with 11 and South Western with nine.
Cuadrilla’s licences are in Yorkshire, while IGas’s are in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Sussex and Hampshire. Third Energy’s licences are in Yorkshire and north east England, and South Western’s are in Dorset, Isle of Wight, Somerset and Wiltshire.
Licence summary
We’ll bring you details soon of which licence area have been offered to which companies. But here’s a summary of the numbers. The OGA has grouped some blocks offered in the 14th round together into licence areas.
ADM 2 blocks, 1 licence
Alkane 6 blocks, 6 licences
Angus 5 blocks, 1 licence
Aurora 5 blocks, 3 licences
Blackland Park 2 blocks, 2 licences
Celtique 2 blocks, 2 licences
Cirque 6 blocks, 4 licences
Cuadrilla 18 blocks, 8 licences
Egdon 6 blocks, 4 licences
Europa 2 blocks, 1 licence
GDF 6 blocks, 3 licences
Hutton 7 blocks, 4 licences
IGas 17 blocks, 11 licences
INEOS 37 blocks, 21 licences
Infrastrata 2 blocks, 2 licences
Norcross 1 blocks, 1 licence
Osprey 4 blocks, 3 licences
Perenco 2 blocks, 1 licence
Reach 4 blocks, 1 licence
South Western 23 blocks, 9 licences
Third Energy 5 blocks, 2 licences
Warwick 4 blocks, 3 licences
Categories: Industry
DRILL OR DROP? 
Ineos will soon find out just how unwelcome they are. The majority of people do not want fracking – Kevin Hollinrake MP has admitted that 80% of his constituents are against fracking. We will fight every step if the way.
And as for their billionaire owner who says he likes an industrial North – well come and live amongst the fracking licences and leave your Swiss tax haven!
Who are “the majority”,I’ve not seen them? The loud shouters maybe!
The “majority” are quite simply the thinking, caring people of the world. The frackers and the despicable government cronies giving them licences to wreck must have lost their brains and scruples a long time ago. Massive environmental disasters have already been chronicled as a result of this cowboy “industry”.