Huge supplies of gas have been discovered in the Gainsborough area

It's been confirmed huge supplies of gas have been discovered in the Gainsborough area;

It's said to be very significant.

The business involved Egdon resources has told us the Gainsborough geological basin has gas resources in shale and sandstone following drilling.

It's said to compare favourably with some of the best shale sites in the US.

However it would need to be extracted through fracking which is currently not allowed.

A study has suggested if rules changed it could contribute 140 billion to the UK economy and create a quarter of a million jobs.

Here's the statement from Egdon Resources following on from an article Daily Telegraph :

“The Telegraph article relates to the potential gas resources in the Gainsborough Trough geological basin which extends across parts of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire.

At present they cannot be developed due to the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking)

The presence of these gas resources in shales and sandstones at a depth of around 2 kilometres, was proven by the drilling of the Springs Road-1 well back in 2019 and compare favourably with some of the best producing shale basins in the USA.

At present they cannot be developed due to the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for shale-gas.

It’s description in the article as a “gas field” is premature as the political and regulatory conditions for its development do not exist in the UK today.

Egdon commissioned Deloitte to undertake an assessment of the potential economic, social and environmental impact that developing this gas resource could have.

This has highlighted a gas resource capable of supplying over 16 trillion cubic feet of gas or around 6-7 years of current gas consumption thus offsetting significant amounts of imported gas.

Deloitte’s modelling estimates that if this was developed it would generate a GDP contribution of £140 billion, £34 billion of direct taxes, up to 250,000 direct and indirect jobs and offset 202 million tons of CO2 equivalent when compared to the emissions associated with imported gas.

It would seem sensible for politicians to consider in a pragmatic and fact based way the potential security of supply

To put that in context that is equivalent to the annual emissions of over 40 million cars.

As accepted by the Government and shown by the Climate Change Committee’s figures, whilst its use will reduce, gas will continue to be an important part of the UK energy mix out to 2050 and beyond.

The UK will become increasingly reliant on imports as North Sea production declines.

The UK government is looking for ways to grow GDP and is increasingly reliant on overseas energy imports such as LNG, much sourced from US shale.

It would therefore seem sensible for politicians to consider in a pragmatic and fact based way, the potential security of supply, fiscal, environmental and employment benefits of developing the UK’s own resources such as those present in the Gainsborough Trough.

The proposed development of Carbon Capture and Storage projects at nearby Humberside further enhance the environmental credentials of this opportunity.”

They can’t say we shouldn’t use oil and gas on our doorstep when it costs us so much to import it

We've also heard from Colin Davie who's Lincolnshire county councillor for the economy.

He believes rising energy costs will force the government to reverse policy eventually.

“The economic impact looks very positive for jobs creation and flowing into the local economy,” Cllr Davie said.

“It needs to be interrogated by the public, but if it’s half as good as it promises, it will be something that people will welcome.

“This government will come under pressure from the public as they pay for its energy policy with rising costs.

“They can’t say we shouldn’t use oil and gas on our doorstep when it costs us so much to import it. 

“Fracking may be something that needs to be allowed down the road to rescue the economy. There has to be a serious conversation about that.”

Sir Edward Leigh is the Gainsborough MP - he's responded on twitter:

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