Will Ed Miliband see sense and drill British gas?

The government says it wants to stop the ‘blockers’ which are holding back Britain’s economy. It also says it wants to boost the nation’s energy security. How convenient, then, that along comes a project which could achieve both at the same time. The only trouble is that it is something which will drive Ed Miliband nuts.

Over the next few weeks, it is reported, a little-known oil and gas company, Egdon Resources, will announce that it has discovered 480 billion cubic metres worth of shale gas reserves in a large trough extending westwards of the Lincolnshire town of Gainsborough. Onshore oil and gas is Egdon’s business – it already operates small wells in the Midlands and Dorset. Its discovery in the Gainsborough trough, however, dwarfs all that. To put it into context, in 2023 the UK consumed 63.5 billion cubic metres of gas. This one field alone, in other words, could supply the UK with gas for nearly eight years.