UK shale gas driller Cuadrilla Resources is ramping up its activity by appointing engineering firm Arup to run its Environmental Impact Assessments.

Cuadrilla is one of two currently exploring in the UK (their drilling rig, pictured) and this marks a surge in development for the firm’s hopes in the UK as yesterday British Gas owner Centrica announced it is taking a small stake in the drilling licences.

Francis Egan, chief executive of shale gas firm said the EIAs are being carried out as part of a process to win “informed consent” for its fracking in the Lancashire Bowland shale.

The process will kick off this summer and is expected to run into the start of 2014.

Des Correia, project director at Arup said: “Shale gas exploration is an emerging area in the UK and Arup understands the full range of environmental issues. However, the vital element in this work will be using that knowledge to ensure we fully assess, explain and, as appropriate, mitigate any implications for the local environment or communities.”

Local opposition to Cuadrilla’s plans has grown ever since its fracking activity was linked to the small earthquake which rocked Blackpool in 2011. A poll of 284 local residents conducted last Autumn by the parish council in Balcombe, near a site where Cuadrilla plans to drill, found 82% were opposed to fracking.

Out of those opposed to fracking, 125 mentioned their concerns and the biggest worry was over an increase in road traffic through the village, followed by pollution of water supplies and the impact on the environment.

British Gas owner Centrica said it has bought a 25% stake in the Lancashire field to explore shale gas in the UK.

It acquired the interest in the Bowland area operated by Cuadrilla Resources, where initial exploration suggested there could be 200 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas in place.

Centrica said it paid a total of £40 million in cash to the UK-based fracking company and Australian firm AJ Lucas – which also has a stake in the field – and will pay a further £60 million for exploration and appraisal costs.

The news follows the UK Government’s pledge earlier this year that it would create “robust regulation” to speed up shale gas development in the country. A report also suggested shale gas could be “a new North Sea” for Britain, with investment expected to peak at £3.7 billion a year and support 74,000 jobs in the UK.

MPs have, however, said it’s far too soon for shale gas to bring down energy prices in the country which followed speculation that the fuel source could lead to an era of cheap gas as seen in the US.

Extracting shale gas includes the controversial process of fracking – drilling deep underground with opening the rocks with a mixture of water, sand and chemicals for the gas to flow out freely.

Mark Hanafin, Managing Director of Centrica’s International Upstream business said: “With North Sea gas reserves declining and the UK becoming more dependent on imported gas supplies, it is important that we look for opportunities to develop domestic gas resources, to provide affordable sources of gas to our customers and to deliver broader economic benefits to the UK.

“The Government’s clear commitment to developing the UK’s shale gas industry is creating the right environment for companies to invest and to deliver those benefits. This transaction presents an attractive opportunity for Centrica to explore the potential and commercial viability of natural gas from shale in the UK while utilising its expertise as a responsible operator and developer of UK gas resources.”

It has been estimated that natural gas from shale could cut the amount of gas the UK has to import in 2030 from 76% to 37%. Earlier this month, ELN also reported more shale gas has been found in the north west of England.

The parent company of British Gas is rumoured to be eyeing up shale gas assets in the UK.

Energy firm Centrica is tipped to be in talks with shale gas firm Cuadrilla Resources over its Bowland Shale licences, a source told Reuters last week.

Cuadrilla is one of two firms currently exploring in the UK (pictured) although several firms hold licences to drill. The shale gas explorer believes there could be as much as 200trillion cubic feet of gas under its own licence area in Lancashire.

The Government has set up a new office for shale gas and oil in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and announced new tax incentives for the unconventional gas. However no new firms have applied for licences from DECC since 2008.

Both Centrica and Cuadrilla said they had no comment on the speculation.

It takes real guts (or perhaps a touch of March Hare madness) to stand in front of a room full of people doing something you’re utterly opposed to and tell them they’re wrong.

That was exactly the scene when Greenpeace’s Doug Parr told around 100 shale gas experts, explorers and investors their industry posed a “problem” and they should leave the stuff in the ground.

He was speaking at an unconventional shale gas and oil conference earlier this week in a panel discussion unfortunately reduced to one, which essentially gave him free reign to hold forth.

It was a bit like going into a lions’ den and telling the big cats to stop hunting, or running face first into a swarm of mozzies demanding they leave off biting immediately.

I thought he was going to get, er, mullered, a tasty snack before feeding time at the zoo.

Except… He didn’t.

Credit to the shale gas guys and girls, they were very tolerant – even interested – towards this green preacher among the “dirty heathens”.

There were titters as a suited campaigner (rumoured to be on the shale gas payroll) queried Doug’s argument against extracting more gas, quipping, “What alternatives are there – I suppose we can’t use whale oil”? A grisly joke, almost too bizarre for words.

But on the whole I’ve not seen a spectacle like it – nothing like the frenzied, carnivalesque protests I’ve covered where revellers yelled and danced their distaste for fossil fuels outside energy conferences, all speakers and attendees kept blissfully unaware by security guards and police. And nowhere near as snide and nasty as the mud-slinging you sometimes get in the press.

It’s a credit to those who were there that an open dialogue was allowed. polarised views either way may not be to your liking but it’s great to have them aired.

Bring on the debate: it’s the only way forward.

The United States has seen a “reversal” in oil production which could see it become bigger exporter than Saudi Arabia, it was claimed today.

Saudi Arabia is the world’s second largest exporter of oil, according to the International Energy Agency’s 2010 statistics, sending out 50 million tonnes a year.

The United States has currently undergone a dramatic change in energy fortune in the last five years with the boom in shale gas – and a similar change could be about to hit its oil market according to Rick Smead, a director at consultancy Navigant which helped bring research on the shale gas reserves to light.

He said the USA’s oil production is longer dwindling but on the rise again.

Speaking at the UGOS conference in London today, he predicted: “The US may exceed Saudi Arabia in a few years.”

He suggested the population of the state of North Dakota had recently “doubled” because of shale oil and gas production and predicted “big geopolitical implications”.

Europe is only “just starting” its journey towards developing shale gas, according to shale gas research experts at Chevron.

Speaking at the Unconventional Oil and Gas (UGOS) conference in London this morning, Dr Steve Garrett, Manager for Chevron’s Global Technology Centre said “it does take time” for an industry to get off the ground.

Pointing to the United States’ seemingly overnight success, he said even that took years to get going.

He told the conference: “It seemed to ramp up quickly but if you look at the timeline it goes back to 2005, it took eight to 10 years. We’re just starting on that journey in Europe.”

Dr Garrett said there was some “exciting research” in the pipeline, earlier mentioning research at Leeds and Manchester universities including analysing the microporous rock and how gas moves through rock.

He added he could “see a very interesting business prize at the end of it”.

More shale gas has been found in the North West of England by exploration firm IGas which reckons there could be as much as 170 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of the unconventional gas in the acreage it has a licence for.

That’s on top of 200tcf reserves which fellow exploration firm Cuadrilla Resources believes exist on a separate section of land.

Shale gas is a controversial process of extracting gas from shale rock, involving drilling deep underground and blasting the rock open with a mix of water, sand and chemicals to let the gas flow out freely.

The new studies by IGas covered 300 square miles in the Lower Carboniferous shale including the Bowland Shale in the North West of England. It believes the most likely level of reserves is 102Tcf while low estimates are 15.1Tcf.

Andrew Austin, chief executive said: “The announcement of the gas in place volumes of up to ca. 170Tcf in our North West acreage… supports our view that these licences have a very significant Shale Gas resource with the potential to transform the company and materially benefit the communities in which we operate.”

The onshore oil and gas firm is planning to drill in autumn and says its proposed drilling programme is “at an advanced stage”.

Mr Austin said the estimates may change once drilling begins, adding there are plans to look at possible shale resources in the East Midlands and the Weald Basin in southern England.

However anti-shale gas and environmental group Greenpeace claimed the figures were “just hype to impress investors”.

Doug Parr, Greenpeace’s policy director said: “Deciding how much gas there is based on the word of a shale gas firm is like buying a second hand car without lifting up the bonnet and asking the price.

“IGas may be keen to impress its investors in China but these figures are just hype. The world’s largest oil and gas firms were attracted to Poland by similar claims – now they are rushing to leave.”

Shale gas is the future of the UK’s energy industry and could meet more than a third of the nation’s annual gas needs and cut its dependence on imports, according to a new report.

The Institute of Directors’ (IoD) ‘Getting shale gas working’ report, sponsored by shale gas firm Cuadrilla Resources, claims its development could also create tens of thousands of jobs, generate significant tax revenue and support British manufacturing.

Among the economic benefits, the report claims investment in shale gas could peak at £3.7 billion a year and support 74,000 jobs in the UK. Production could be as much as 853 billion cubic feet (bcf) per year in the low scenario, 1,121 bcf in the central scenario and 1,389 bcf in the high scenario.

Corin Taylor (pictured), Senior Economic Adviser at the IoD and author of the report said: “Shale gas could be a new North Sea for Britain, creating tens of thousands of jobs, supporting our manufacturers and reducing gas imports. Further exploration will be needed to assess the size of technically and commercially recoverable resources. At the same time, partnerships need to be established between industry, Government and communities to ensure that development of this vital national resource benefits local people.”

Despite the controversial technique – called fracking – used to extract the fuel, the report also claims it would not only provide economic benefits but could also be environmentally friendly. It suggests shale gas produced in the UK could have lower emissions than imported gas if production is well regulated.

However, the report also identifies several barriers to the development of shale gas in the UK, including a planning and permitting regime that involves four agencies and two public consultations needed to drill and fracture just one exploration well.

The news follows the UK Government’s announcement that it is creating a set of regulations to speed up shale gas development in the country.

The representative body for the UK onshore oil and gas industry welcomed the report’s findings. Ken Cronin, Chief Executive of the UK Onshore Operators Group (UKOOG) said: “This report makes useful recommendations as to how barriers that currently stand in the way of development can be removed to the advantage of local authorities, communities and the industry. We now need to progress with exploratory drilling in order to ascertain how much of the UK’s significant onshore deposits can be technically and commercially recovered.”

Environmental groups, however, claim the report’s findings are “misleading”. Greenpeace Energy Campaigner Leila Deen said: “This report’s wildly optimistic forecast for job creation depends on a level of shale development that no respected analyst believes to be economically or geologically feasible. The IoD’s forecasts are based on mind-boggling and hopelessly misleading estimates of gas extraction using technology so far not deployed at this scale anywhere on the planet. It also assumes a level of gas use that’s incompatible with the recommendations of Government climate advisors.

“Despite cheerleading for the industry, the report still avoids the issue of whether fracking will bring down bills. With experts from Deutche Bank to BP to the Energy Secretary Ed Davey agreeing UK shale gas will not reduce gas prices for consumers, fracking across England seems like a lot of pain for very little gain.”

The Government has revealed it is creating a set of “robust regulation” to speed up shale gas development in the country.

Speaking at the first meeting of the new All Parliamentary Group for Unconventional Gas & Oil (APPG) in the House of Commons today, Energy Minister Michael Fallon (pictured) confirmed more than 300 licences for onshore exploration and development have already been issued, out of which 60 are substantial. He insisted the Government is creating the “right framework” to accelerate shale gas development in a “responsible way”.

The new Energy Minister added: “We announced fracking could resume with robust regulation last December and there is nothing now stopping licensees from bringing on new drilling plans. It is up to licensees to come forward with plans to explore the shale potential, engaging with local communities and gaining the necessary planning permissions and permits.

“Shale gas has great potential and we have the right regulation in place so the UK benefits as quickly as possible in terms of energy security, investment and jobs. But development must be done in partnership with communities. We are working hard with industry on a package of community benefits and to ensure that their concerns are properly met.”

The Government expects to launch a new round of licence applications next year.

However, the news has already sparked criticism among green groups. Lawrence Carter, Greenpeace Energy Campaigner said: “By rolling out the red carpet for fracking companies, the Government is pandering to climate sceptic backbenchers and ignoring the very real concerns of communities across England.

“With everyone from Ofgem to Deutsche Bank to the Secretary of State for Energy agreeing UK shale gas won’t bring down bills, fracking could end up being a lot of pain. The Government should brace itself for a fight back.”

It’s far “too soon” for the UK to get excited about shale gas bringing down energy prices, a report by MPs said today.

Their report investigated new shale gas estimates in the UK and globally, as well as speculation that a “shale gas revolution” will bring an era of abundant, cheap gas.

The members of parliament’s energy watchdog found shale gas production in the UK could enhance our energy security and boost tax revenues.

Tim Yeo MP, Chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Committee said: “It is still too soon to call whether shale gas will provide the silver bullet needed to solve our energy problems. Although the US shale gas has seen a dramatic fall in domestic gas prices, a similar ‘revolution’ here is not certain.”

Given the country’s reserves are unconfirmed, the report suggests it would be “wrong” for the Government to base policy decisions on the assumption that gas prices will fall in the future.

However if DECC wants a new industry to grow it needs to crack on, he added: “The Government has dithered on this issue and should now encourage companies to get on and drill, to establish whether significant recoverable resources exist.”

The Tory MP said that if gas eventually does play a big role into the 2020s, technology to capture carbon from fossil fuels needs to be backed now: “The current slow pace of CCS development is incredibly frustrating. We intend to keep a close eye on DECC’s progress in this area”.

While WWF expressed “dismay” that the report appeared not to acknowledge the “fundamental incoherence” between exploiting shale gas and tackling climate change.

But Ken Cronin, chief executive of the industry group the UK Onshore Operators Group (UKOOG) welcomed the report’s suggestion it should extend the olive branch – and crucially benefits – to the local community.