Shares in IGas Energy PLC (LON:IGAS) gained more than a third at one point on Thursday as the government gave the UK’s nascent shale gas industry a shot in the arm.
Communities secretary Sajid Javid has overturned a planning decision made by Lancashire County Council and as a result privately-owned shale firm Cuadrilla has a green-light to test the potentially large gas resources in the Blackpool and Fylde area.
Cuadrilla’s proposal to drill and frack four horizontal wells from a single site was rejected by Lancashire County Council last year, against the recommendation of its own planning officer.
Today’s outcome has been described as a landmark decision.
Significantly for IGas it comes less than 24 hours after a decision on one of its shale projects was deferred by Nottinghamshire County Council following an eleventh hour legal appeal by conservationists – due to alleged threats to wildlife, including a rare type of owl and a form of lichen.
IGas’s proposal for two wells at the Springs Road project, formerly a Ministry of Defence missile launch site, was last week recommended for acceptance by a Nottinghamshire planning officer.
Nottinghamshire county council is now due to reconvene on the matter next month.
IGas’s frustrating delay is likely to fade quickly to the background now that Westminster’s pro-shale rhetoric has translated into tangible support for the industry.
Ken Cronin, chief executive of UKOOG, the onshore oil industry body, in a brief statement said: “The approval of the application at Preston New Road is an important step forward towards determining what gas resources we have under our feet, with the aim of developing a sustainable onshore natural gas exploration industry in the UK.
“We need the gas to heat our homes, produce electricity, supply our industries and to reduce our dependency on imports.
“The onshore oil and gas industry is committed to producing this gas in the safest and most environmentally sensitive way possible and to creating jobs and opportunities in the supply chain.”
On AIM, IGas Energy shares climbed 4p, 33.5%, to change hands around to the 16.2p level.