Anthony Clark
PRW
Published: August 18, 2014 1:15 pm ET
Updated: August 18, 2014 1:18 pm ET
Image By: Ineos
Ineos Chairman Jim Ratcliffe
Ineos Group AG has moved into United Kingdom shale exploration with the purchase of BG Group’s 51 percent share of the shale section of a joint Petroleum Exploration and Development License (PEDL). The remaining 49 percent is owned by exploration company Dart Energy. No figures were disclosed.
The PEDL 133 license covers 329 square kilometres of the Midland Valley of Scotland, which includes Ineos’ Grangemouth, Scotland, refining and petrochemical complex and the area around it.
Gary Haywood, chief executive of Ineos Upstream, said: “We are very pleased to have agreed the purchase of 51 percent of the shale section of the PEDL 133 license. Over the last year Ineos Upstream has been drawing together a team of experts in the sector, including a number of leading shale exploration and development specialists from the U.S. This expertise gives us the perfect platform to move into onshore exploration.
“This is a logical next step for Ineos and we are very excited about it. We are one of very few businesses that can use shale gas as both a fuel and a petrochemical feedstock,” he added.
“With our large UK asset base, our existing capabilities in operating oil and gas facilities and our exemplary safety and environmental record, Ineos is well placed to become a major player in the UK onshore gas production sector.”
Ineos is based in Rolle, Switzerland. | 
