UK's Largest Independent Oil and Gas Producer IGas 'Poised' for Fracking

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One of the UKโ€™s largest oil and gas companies has reiterated its optimism for the prospects of a UK shale gas industry. The statement comes days after fracking company Cuadrilla finally starting to drill in Lancashire, despite months of public opposition and geologists questioning the feasibility of a UK industry.ย ย 

IGas is โ€œpoised to capitalise on its potentialโ€ having restructured the organisation towards the UK fracking industry, and secured planning permission for new shale gas projects, its non-executive chairman, Francis Gugan, writes in the companyโ€™s annual report published online this week by Companies House.

The company is due to commence drilling at a site at Tinker Lane and Springs Road in North Nottinghamshire โ€“ likely later this year โ€“ once final conditions around its planning permission are agreed with local authorities. IGas told DeSmog UK it expects to give an update on its plans to the market at the end ofย September.

Gugan said the optimistic outlook was built on โ€œemphasising the importance of shale development in Britainโ€. IGas employs PR company Hill and Knowlton to lobby the UK government on shale gas issues, as do fracking companies Cuadrilla and INEOS.

Gugan also attributes the companyโ€™s improved prospects to a weaker pound in the wake of the Brexit referendum, and rising oilย prices.

IGasโ€™s licenses cover more than one million acres of the UK, with the company claiming to be โ€œthe largest independent producer of oil and gas inย Britainโ€.


Credit: Cropped image from map produce by Carbon Brief.

Itโ€™s flagship shale gas projects in Tinker Lane, Nottinghamshire, and Springs Road in South Yorkshire have been met with opposition by local campaignย groups.

โ€œThis is the last throw of the dice so it’s greatly overhyped,โ€ a spokesperson for Frack Free Nottinghamshire, one of the local groups objecting to the development, told DeSmog UK. โ€œIts gas from shale or oblivion for onshore oil and gas operators,โ€ they said, as reserves from conventional wells start to dryย up.

Guganโ€™s comments seem to align with this. He said the UKโ€™s energy sector is at a โ€œcritical junctureโ€, and that โ€œUK sourced gas is an increasingly importantโ€ for the UKโ€™s energy security, hence IGasโ€™sย restructuring.

Gugan goes on to say that IGas seeks to maximise profits from its oil and gas operations โ€œwhilst fully respecting the environment and the local communities within which we operateโ€. This includes giving ยฃ850,000 to local projects over the past nineย years.

DeSmog UK analysis of IGasโ€™s community donations shows the company has spent almost ยฃ87,000 in the East Midlands over the past two years as the it tries to purchase a social license to operate, including donations to schools andย playgroups.

IGas has also given over ยฃ95,000 to projects in the North West of England, one of four regions in which it has a financialย interest.

A spokesperson for local activist group Frack Free Yorkshire told DeSmog UK: โ€œIGas has long been contributing financially to local community projects, presumably because it wants to be seen as a benign friend. We find that cash-strapped voluntary organisations that accept financial donations from IGas have not always fully explored both sides of theย argument.

โ€œTherefore there is a concern that they have not necessarily made informedย choices.โ€

A DeSmog UK investigation previously revealed how fracking company Cuadrilla was using local schools and sports clubs to try and improve its public image in Lancashire. Big oil company BP has used similar tactics to greenwash its image and keep the public onside as it cuts jobs in the Northย Sea.

IGasโ€™s accompanying accounts show it made an underlying operating profit of ยฃ3.7 million last year, with ยฃ99 million of debt. The company had a ยฃ32.9 million loss afterย tax.

Main image credit: Anita Starzycka via Pixabay CC0

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Mat was DeSmog's Special Projects and Investigations Editor, and Operations Director of DeSmog UK Ltd. He was DeSmog UKโ€™s Editor from October 2017 to March 2021, having previously been an editor at Nature Climate Change and analyst at Carbon Brief.

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