Shale gas find raises hopes UK can replicate US energy boom One of the energy companies with shale gas licences in the UK has vastly increased its estimate for the amount of gas it is sitting on, enhancing optimism about Britain's fledgling shale prospects. IGas says there may be up to 170tn cubic feet of gas in its licence area - enough to meet the UK's needs for about 60 years. It previously said it had 9 tcf of gas in place. IN UK Business However, it may turn out that only a small fraction of that gas will be technically recoverable. Shale explorers like IGas will only know how much of the gas can be extracted once they have drilled several wells and tested flow rates. Despite that, the IGas estimate will increase confidence that the UK may experience a similar shale boom to the one that has transformed the North American energy market. "We (Britain) import around 1.5 tcf, we consume around 3 tcf a year, [so] assuming you could recover technically something like 10 to 15 per cent of the shale gas in place, then it could move import dependency out for about 10 to 15 years," chief executive Andrew Austin told the BBC. In the US, the widespread use of technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" - in which huge volumes of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground at high pressure to create fractures in the rock and release the hydrocarbons trapped inside - has led to a huge surge in oil and gas production. Many in the UK, including George Osborne, chancellor, have expressed hope that the UK can replicate the US shale gas boom and thereby reduce its reliance on imported gas. But others in the coalition worry that excessive enthusiasm about Britain's shale gas potential could weaken the country's commitment to low-carbon energy such as nuclear and renewables. There is also considerable scepticism from environmental groups, who worry about the impact of fracking on groundwater and air quality. IGas's licences in the northwest of England cover an area of 300 square miles and include the Bowland Basin in Lancashire, which is also being explored by Cuadrilla Resources, the only company to have fracked for gas in the UK. IGas said that a study of its licence area based in part on geological data from a well it had drilled at Ince Marshes in the northwest gave figures for gas in place ranging from 15.1 tcf to 172.3 tcf, with a "most likely" estimate of 102 tcf. The figures are comparable with those put out by Cuadrilla, which says its UK licences in the Bowland Basin could hold as much as 200 tcf of gas. But analysts stressed how provisional the figures were. "The uncertainty surrounding the shale properties across [IGas's] position is very significant," said analysts at Jefferies. Additional drilling is needed to increase confidence . . . and more accurately estimate its potential. IGas confirmed that a planned drilling programme, due to start later this year, "will further refine these estimates and advance our understanding of this shale basin." It said negotiations with drilling and related service companies were "well advanced."