A green light to appraisal programmes is the only step Britain needs to take to explore its full shale gas potential, one of the industry’s top figures has claimed.
Andrew Austin, chief executive with IGas Energy – UK’s single producer with conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons operation in place – addressed the delegates on the second day of the Unconventional Gas 2014 conference in Aberdeen.
With the company completing the appraisal drilling of its second shale well – in Barton, Lancashire – Austin told Energy Voice that all components necessary for the country to begin shale operations on a wider scale are in place, including viable resources, regulation and political will.
“The issue now is to make sure that we can make the stuff flow,” Austin said.
“We need to make sure that we can make it flow at the right rate, so we need to get on with this process.
“Once we’ve done that then we will really know whether we have an opportunity for Britain in shale gas.”
Watch our interview with Andrew Austin below.
