Mad Hatter’s tea party outside IGas shale gas site at Misson, north Nottinghamshire, 11 March 2019. Photo: Tina English
IGas announced today it had encountered a hydrocarbon-bearing shale sequence at its exploration well at Misson in north Nottinghamshire. The news coincided with a Mad Hatter’s tea party organised outside the site by drilling opponents.
The company said the sequence measured more than 250m and included the upper and lower Bowland Shales.
Significant indications of gas were also spotted within sands in the Millstone Grit sequence, IGas said.
The company has posted a video of a core from the well in a tank of water showing gas rising.
Last month, IGas announced that the Misson well had encountered shales at 2,200m. Today it said said drilling was continuing, at a rate that was quicker than expected.
It said it had recovered about 150m of shale core and had carried out an extensive wireline logging programme across the Millstone Grit and the two shale formations.
The company said petrophysical and core analysis was now being carried out. This would give further insight into the potential resource and character of the shale in future development across the east midlands, it said.
Analysis of core samples taken from the other Nottinghamshire IGas site at Tinker Lane was still underway. The well has been capped after failing to encounter the Bowland Shale.
Chief executive, Stephen Bowler, said:
“I am delighted to report that we have recovered high quality hydrocarbon bearing cores at our Springs Road site. The data gathered to date shows that there are significant prospective resources in our East Midlands acreage and is another important step for the UK onshore industry.”
There have been near-daily protests against onshore gas exploration outside the Misson site since deliveries began in December 2017.
Frack Free Misson has launched an online petition to the environment secretary, Michael Gove, urging him to block fracking at the Misson. The petition says this threatens owls and other wildlife on the Misson Carr site of special scientific interest, next to the IGas drilling site.
DrillOrDrop Misson timeline and details
Categories: Industry
DRILL OR DROP? 
I wonder if they will ban fossil fuel use, &cement & concrete, in the production & transport of the building materials for construction of the new homes (plus associated infrastructure such as roads pavements, pipes etc)?
Nick, call me a snob but, I’d find it very difficult to live in a house that was built in the last two centuries – I even find buying ones own furniture slightly irksome. But if the owners of those dreadful houses do morn the loss of their gas hobs they can learn from the protest camps and bring in a gas bottle -simps.
It is said by some that substituting electricity for gas for the purpose of home heating is mistaken. Heat demand is much more seasonal than electricity need. Switching to heat provided by electricity will disproportionately increase peak demand for electricity, obliging the UK to waste large sums on capacity payments for electricity generating plant that will work for a few hours or days a year. The green notion that providing heat using electricity is good for the UK may be simple minded.
It was said by the head of the National Grid that to replace all the gas central heating in the U.K. with electric heating (I think about about 20 million homes) would require a TREBLING of our total electricity supply so, logically, if we are going to start building most of the new 250,000 or so houses built each year with electric central heating this will rapidly put a strain on the grid on top of that caused by recharging EVs. Then of course we run up against the issue of wind and solar being weather dependent.
Good post Shalewatcher,So
The potential may exist for drastically reducing the consumption of natural gas, oil and electricity for space heating of homes, schools and large buildings by a combination of better thermal insulation, solar panels, solar tiles and using low-grade heat extracted from flooded coal mines via heat exchangers. Pilot projects are underway in the UK.
Robin Grayson MSc – Liberal Democrat Geologist
Robin,
How on earth can you be advocating extracting low enthalpy energy from flooded coal mines when you are critical of fracking for the potential release of selenium etc? Marine shales exist above most coal beds. So when a mine collapses the overlying shale will get incorporated into what is essentially a collapse breccia. This provides a high surface area for oxygenated water to react with pyrite in the shale to produce sulphuric acid. Being a polymath, I assume that you will know that sulphuric acid isn’t neutralised too well when reacting with calcite because it forms a layer of calcium sulphate that limits the rate of reaction. However, sulphuric acid is quite good at reacting with marine apatite, which contains most of the uranium and its daughters within organic-rich shales. I believe in a previous post that you also argued that selenium was partitioned into pyrite so one would also expect that the process you’re advocating would release selenium into solution.
I know you don’t like your “expertise” being challenged and it’s clear that you have little knowledge of geochemistry so I don’t want or expect a reply. However, I would suggest that you do reflect on the discussions that you have had on this site and maybe question whether you’re as much as an expert as you think.
Judith Green BSc, MSc, PhD, Red Tory Geoscientist
p.s. For the avoidance of doubt, I actually think that extracting low enthalpy energy from coal mines is fine but extraction of gas from shale resource plays is less harmful in terms of water pollution
Judith / Robin
A link
https://www.citymetric.com/horizons/disused-coal-mines-could-help-decarbonise-our-heating-here-s-how-3519
Good news for Edwinstowe and Ollerton once the East Midlands Coalfield fills up with water I guess ( or Misson ) as long as the water is not lost it it’s travels up and down the extraction and re injection boreholes.
Maybe the Woodsetts borehole could be adapted to suit should it not find suitable shale ( and therefore all the opposition issues are as relevant to drilling for minewater as a non fracked shale exploration well)?
Good idea. It is currently being tested in several UK coalfields. Robin Grayson Lib Dem Geologist
Good morning Judith
Thanks for your comments.
As you surely know:
Many coals lack marine shale above them: some have marine shale above them and can easily be avoided.
Many coals have low pyrite: some have high pyrite and can easily be avoided.
Many coals have low selenium: some have high selenium and can easily be avoided.
Robin Grayson MSc – Liberal Democrat Geologist
Funny how easy it is to avoid things reference coal, but not so easy reference gas!
Oh, but according to the info from PNR, it is equally easy.
Perhaps it may be that coal has experienced a lot more exploration and development? Anyone else see what the solution is?
Perhaps CPs replacement will, as well?
I think you’ll find that R L-B is quite anti shale gas Martina.
I’m sure she is, reaction.
However, I don’t believe she is about to walk across the Chamber.
But, stranger things have happened.