Igas begins drilling at its first UK shale well in Nottinghamshire

Igas hopes to become the second company to frack in the UK as it today begun drilling at an exploratory well in the Midlands.

The energy company said it had started work on the TL-1 exploration well at Tinker Lane in Nottinghamshire.

The exploration, which was given planning permission in March last year, aims to determine if the site is commercially viable by analysing samples from the bedrock.

Igas, which does not yet have a license to frack, is expected to spend around two months exploring the site.

Igas said on its website: “There is a pressing need to deliver lower carbon energy that is home grown, provides important energy security for the future alongside economic benefits to the local communities as well as the country as a whole.

“Depending on the results of these wells we may submit planning applications to carry out hydraulic fracturing in the future.”

It will also drill nine boreholes to sample and monitor groundwater and ground gas while exploring the well.

Igas is operating through its subsidiary Dart Energy which it acquired in 2014, creating the UK’s largest shale gas explorer.

It hopes to tap into the Bowland shale gas formation, which stretches across much of northern England.

The British Geological Survey has said it believes there could be as much as 2.3 trillion cubic feet of gas in the formation.

Last month Cuadrilla, which is already exploring the formation, was forced to temporarily suspend activities at a Lancashire site after worries over seismic tremors.

Two anti-fracking protesters were arrested outside the Tinker Lane site at the weekend.