Views sought on proposed fracking site in Nottinghamshire

The Environment Agency is inviting views on a proposed fracking site in Nottinghamshire. IGas has applied for relevant permits for the shale gas exploration site at Spring Road Mission. It plans to carry out drilling of two boreholes to investigate the potential for shale gas. Following an initial consultation earlier this year on the application […]

UK fracking firm cancels Cheshire drilling

Fracking company IGas has announced it will not be drilling in Cheshire. In a statement, the company said it won’t drill for coal bed methane at Duttons Lane and Salters Lane. It had previously received planning permission for the projects. A spokesperson from the firm said: “Having considered some early results from this recently acquired 3D seismic survey and […]

UK energy minister visits potential fracking site

UK Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom MP visited Cheshire yesterday to see what a potential fracking site would look like. Her visit to IGas Energy’s site at Doe Green in Warrington coincided with the release of three government videos, which provides information about shale gas, hydraulic fracturing and how the industry would be regulated. DECC expects […]

UK shale firm IGas to cut more than 25% staff

Shale gas company IGas plans to cut more than a quarter of its staff and close an office in Stirling. The company, which has around 200 employees, said the cuts were due to the lower price of oil. It said: “In light of the prevailing oil price environment, IGas has undertaken a review of its […]

IGas set to apply for more UK shale gas licences

IGas is set to apply for more licences to ‘frack’ in the UK. It announced today “work is progressing” with a number of partners on submitting applications to extract shale gas in “various blocks” in the Government’s next (14th) round of onshore licensing. Applications close on 28 October. It also pencilled in plans to reveal […]

Drillers find shale gas near Manchester

Drilling company IGas has found shale gas at the Barton Moss site near Manchester. The gas firm said it has finished drilling at its well on the site which was recently a focus of anti-fracking protests. IGas confirmed it hit the Bowland Shale, a stretch of porous rock deep underground which contains shale gas. Cores […]

Judge rules Manchester fracking protestors can be evicted

A judge’s ruling effectively means demonstrators outside a fracking site in Barton Moss near Salford can be moved along by the site’s owner. Peel Groups, which is leasing the site to energy firm IGas, wanted to kick out the protestors who have pitched tents along an entrance road and obstructed lorries for more than 100 […]

France’s Total buys into Lincolnshire shale gas

French oil giant Total has bought a multi-million pound stake in a project prospecting for shale gas in Lincolnshire. Total announced today it has snapped up 40% interest in two shale gas licences which cover 240 km2 in the East Midlands. Under the deal it will spend a minimum of $19.5 million (£12m) in the […]

Manchester anti-fracking protests ‘cost taxpayers £330,000’

Anti-fracking protests in Greater Manchester have cost taxpayers a staggering £330,000 so far and is rising. The figure was released by Greater Manchester Police as protests against IGas’ attempt to drill for shale gas in Barton Moss continue. Two women blocked the fracking site this morning to prevent the energy company’s trucks from going into […]

Anti-fracking protestors give IGas early Christmas pressies

Anti-fracking protestors have blockaded IGas’s Barton Moss drilling site for the second time this week. On Monday they got into the festive spirit by giving the drilling company a fracking great stocking filler – a 17 metre long, one and half tonne wind turbine blade, wrapped in a big red bow (pictured). Sandra Denton, one […]