KNUTSFORD and Mid Cheshire could be opened up to fracking after 10 'onshore blocks' covering the area were secured by energy firms INEOS and IGAS.

The Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) – the UK’s oil and gas regulator – announced today that 159 onshore blocks under the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round are being formally offered to successful applicants.

These blocks will be incorporated into 93 onshore licences.

A Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) does not itself give any direct permission for operations to begin. A PEDL grants the licensee exclusivity over an area of land for onshore hydrocarbon exploration, appraisal and extraction.

The exclusivity applies to both conventional and unconventional operations.

Around 75 per cent of the 159 blocks being offered today relate to unconventional shale oil or gas, and additional regulatory requirements apply to this kind of activity.

OGA Chief Executive Andy Samuel said: “I am pleased that the 14th Onshore Round attracted strong interest and a high quality of proposed work programmes. This round enables a significant amount of the UK’s shale prospects to be taken forward to be explored and tested.

“Upon acceptance of these offers, applicants will be issued with licences and will be able to begin planning their future strategies for exploration activities. These will be subject to further local planning, safety, environmental and other authorisations.”

Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom said: “Last month we set out the vital role gas will play in the UK’s transition to a low-carbon future. The licences offered today move us a step closer - driving forwards this industry which will provide secure, home grown energy to hardworking families and businesses for decades to come.

“Alongside conventional drilling sites, we need to get shale gas moving. As the Task Force for Shale Gas report found earlier this week, with the right standards in place fracking can take place safely. Now is the time to press ahead and get exploration underway so that we can determine how much shale gas there is and how much we can use.”

To see a map of the blocks covering our area, click on the link below

fracking.pdf