A number of wells could be drilled in locations across north-west England by 2017, according to reports. The Northwich Guardian said the move could pave the way by INEOS for fracking operations.
INEOS has won 21 new shale gas licences in the final part of the UK Government's 14th licensing round. The company said the majority of the licences are located in the old mining heartlands of the North West, North Yorkshire and the East Midlands with a heritage and feed energy production. The announcement by the OGA (Oil and Gas Authority) of 159 onshore blocks means INEOS is now one of the UK's biggest shale gas players.
INEOS today confirmed it purchased all of DEA Deutsche Erdoel's UK North Sea gas fields.
INEOS has struck a deal with ExxonMobil Chemical and Shell Chemicals Europe to supply ethane from US shale gas from Grangemouth to the Fife Ethylene Plant. The purchase agreement will be from the middle of 2017 and it is hoped access to this source will help complement supplies from North Sea natural gas fields. Geir Tuft, business director at INEOS O&P UK, said the deal was a “landmark agreement”.
Ineos has extended its interests in the North Sea after snapping up a further 25% stake in the Clipper South Gas Field from Fairfield Energy.
A senior executive of fracking company Ineos has said he is “not too concerned” about a motion at the SNP conference that could result in a further clampdown on the controversial practice. Party members meeting in Aberdeen will today be asked to back a move that would place tighter restrictions on the party’s moratorium on shale gas extraction. The Scottish Government has already halted any fracking until 2017.
Fracking offers a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to create jobs and boost the Scottish economy, according to chemicals company Ineos.
The billionaire owner of Grangemouth made his first move into the North Sea buying up gas fields from a Russian oligarch just days before the sale breached a government-imposed deadline. Jim Ratcliffe, chairman and chief executive of Ineos, is thought to have paid up to £500million for 12 fields from Mikhail Fridman, who had been forced to sell the assets by the UK government. Mr Fridman’s firm, LetterOne Group (L1) had initially paid £3.8billion to buy Dea, the upstream oil and gas business of German utility RWE in a deal which closed in March.
The operators of the Grangemouth oil refinery have been fined £24,000 for safety failings related to an incident in which a worker was injured at the plant. The decision came after a Petroineos employee was sprayed in the face by low pressure steam. The worker had been in regulation personal protective equipment including a hard hat and safety glasses at the time of the incident.
The Scottish Government has given assurances that it is “not against fracking”, according to the boss of a firm which runs Scotland’s largest petrochemical plant. Jim Ratcliffe, the chief executive and chairman of Ineos, which runs the Grangemouth plant, has suggested an onshore shale gas industry could potentially be set up in Scotland within a few years, despite an indefinite moratorium on granting planning consent for fracking - the method of gas extraction. The firm has ambitions to establish a large-scale shale gas industry, having acquired fracking exploration licences across 700 square miles of central Scotland.
The operator of Scotland’s largest petrochemical plant at Grangemouth has started a community consultation process in a bid to gain support for fracking. Ineos said its information programme will give the public the facts about shale gas extraction while highlighting both the issues and benefits. The development of unconventional gas extraction has been halted by a Scottish Government moratorium while further research and a public consultation is carried out.
The Scottish Government said a "cautious approach" should be taken to the announcement by Ineos that it plans to invest £640million in shale and gas exploration in the UK. The move by chemicals giant Ineos could make it the biggest player in the industry in the country. The company already has two licences near its plant at Grangemouth in Scotland but is applying for more in Scotland and the north of England. It plans to use the gas as a raw material for its chemicals plants, including Grangemouth in Stirlingshire.
Chemicals giant Ineos has announced plans to invest £640 million in shale gas exploration and appraisal in a move which could make it the biggest player in the industry in the UK. The company already has two licences near its plant at Grangemouth in Scotland but is applying for more in Scotland and the north of England. Chairman Jim Ratcliffe said he wanted Ineos to become the biggest company in the British shale gas industry.
Petrochemical company Ineos has bought its second licence for shale exploration just two months after acquiring land at Grangemouth. The acquisition means the company now has an 80% interest in a petroleum exploration and development licence for PEDL 162, which covers a 400 km2 are of the Scottish central belt.