25 October 2011 Insider

An East Midlands-focussed hydrocarbon exploration company has said that huge reserves of a controversial natural resource could be located in one of its fields.

Europa Oil & Gas's chief executive Hugh Mackay told Insider it was adopting a "watching brief" to assess the government's appetite for shale gas and how best to exploit the company's licence for a giant Humber Basin field.

It also operates producing fields at Crosby Warren and West Firsby in Lincolnshire, which could be another potential source of shale gas.

The company has noted that the Humber basin share the same geology as the Cuadrilla reserve in Lancashire where the presence of up to 200 trillion cubic feet of shale gas has been identified.

Drilling for the Cuadrilla reserve has been linked to the creation of more than 1,500 jobs and a £6bn economic boom.

"At the moment, it's fair to say, we're just watching what Cuadrilla Resources are doing in Blackpool," said Mackay.

"We're aware it's quite controversial and we are going to watch and see how things develop." 

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