DECC: “The British Geological Survey’s report of the resources in the Midland Valley, Scotland, suggests a modest amount of gas and oil in place. The central estimate of shale gas in place is 80 trillion cubic feet. The central estimate for shale oil in place is 6 billion barrels of oil.”
“This does not mean that this amount could be extracted as exploratory drilling is needed to determine how much of the gas can be technically and commercially recovered. This is expected to be substantially lower than the total amount of gas and oil in place, and the Midland Valley’s estimates are particularly uncertain because the area has fewer historic wells and less seismic data than previous study areas. The complex geology of the area and historic mine workings means that exploratory drilling and testing is even more important to determine how much can be recovered.
The estimates compares to a central estimate for the Bowland shale (in the north of England) of 1,300 trillion cubic feet of gas in place and a central estimate of 4.4billion barrels of oil in place in the Weald basin (in the South of England).
“The UK’s energy security is among the best in the world, backed by a large consumer and tax base that can afford to support our world-leading energy industries and make us such an attractive place to invest.” The BGS report is published on GOV.UK
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