Egdon Resources plc said it would continue to press for the safe extraction of shale gas following yesterday’s government decision to reinstate the ban on hydraulic fracturing.
ENERGY NEEDS
The company has a joint interest in the Springs Road project in the East Midlands with IGas plc which also condemned the moratorium and is considering legal action.
In a statement today, Egdon managing director Mark Abbott said that the move was “highly disappointing and illogical”, just a few weeks after the lifting of the moratorium and during an energy supply and cost crisis.
“The decision prevents the immediate development of a safe and secure indigenous source of gas and if maintained, locks the UK into long term reliance on more carbon intensive LNG imported from Qatar, the shale-gas fields of the USA and elsewhere.
“We will continue to make the scientific and commercial case that shale-gas should be part of the long-term solution to the UK’s energy needs and that this can be done in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner whilst delivering material economic and geopolitical benefits for the UK.”
INVESTORS
Mr Abbott added that Egdon’s shareholders still benefitted from the company’s core conventional oil and gas operations and that the business remained strong.