Igas threatens legal action after 'shock' of renewed fracking ban

Igas Energy said on Friday that it was “shocked and disappointed” by the renewed ban on fracking in the UK, after a rollercoaster of regulations amid Westminster’s recent political turmoil.

The moratorium on fracking was maintained as a manifesto promise by the Conservative government led by Boris Johnson, having won their large majority in the 2019 general election.

After Johnson’s partygate-fuelled fall from grace, however, his successor Liz Truss managed to squeeze through a lifting of the ban in her final days in power, amid accusations of “bullying and manhandling” in the division lobbies.

Following the end of Truss’ tenure as the country’s shortest-ever premier, however, new prime minister Rishi Sunak announced the reinstatement of the ban in a written ministerial statement.

On Friday, Igas said it was “shocked and disappointed” that the government had now formally announced another moratorium on fracking in England, “at the height” of an energy and cost-of-living crisis.

“Literally a few weeks ago, this government lifted the moratorium paving the way for the timely development of shale in the UK providing jobs, tax revenue, energy security and significant community benefits in the middle of an energy crisis - all totally compatible with net zero,” said the company’s interim executive chairman Chris Hopkinson.

“Igas has a significant recoverable gas resource in the Gainsborough Trough.

“Following interpretation of the cores taken across the 500 metre shale horizon at Springs Road, drilled in 2019, we have estimated that there is 630 billion cubic feet of gas in place per square mile, and if applied to our entire acreage in the East Midlands, this would equate to 270 trillion cubic feet of high quality natural gas.”

At expected recovery rates, Hopkinson said that would equate to satisfying up to 19 years of the UK's gas demand, which he said would provide both energy security “for years to come”, as well as providing “billions of pounds of investment” into the East Midlands and the creation of “thousands” of skilled jobs.

“One of the cross-industry benefits of lifting the moratorium on fracking is the potential to level the playing field across all sectors, particularly in the streamlining of regulatory processes.

“This could promote growth and help make post-Brexit Britain the place to do business.

“But now, another government u-turn risks driving investment away.”

Chris Hopkinson said shale could provide cheaper gas to the UK, claiming that it would support strategic industries such as the steel industry and the emerging “blue hydrogen economy”, selling gas at a guaranteed contracted price “well below” European prices.

“Instead, we will now be tied into expensive imports of LNG for years to come at a time when other European countries are looking at domestic shale as part of their answer to high gas prices and energy security.

“Igas, its partners, and investors have invested significant sums in the development of shale gas both before the 2019 moratorium and again during this political debacle.

“On both occasions these investments were made in the belief that we were unlocking a strategically important resource and providing energy security for the UK.”

The company continued to “believe and assert” that fracking for shale gas “can and will” be done safely and in an “environmentally responsible” manner, the chairman said.

“In light of the government's totally unwarranted u-turn and, in the interest of our shareholders, we reserve the right to pursue any legal process available to us to recover the losses that we have incurred.”

At 1411 BST, shares in Igas Energy were up 1.86% at 28.21p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.