Peel Gas & Oil report shines a light on supply chain benefits of shale
Today (16 April 2015) Peel Gas & Oil launches a report by economic consultants Amion that predicts a shale gas supply hub in North West England could be responsible for peak annual spend of £2.6 billion whilst attracting inward investment to the region.
Peel Gas & Oil is a recently launched new division of Peel Holdings, a leading infrastructure, real estate and investment company. It is establishing itself as a strategic development partner for current and prospective onshore oil and gas licence holders in an effort to speed up and de-risk delivery of the industry, in turn helping to unlock shale resources in the Midlands and North of England.
Speaking about the new report ahead of its launch later today at the Shale World UK conference, Myles Kitcher, managing director at Peel Gas & Oil, said: “Underpinning the industry with a prosperous supply chain hub could create 13,000 peak year jobs. That’s more than double the amount that could be created in the absence of a co-located supply hub. By retaining spend within the Bowland Shale area, a flourishing cluster of supporting businesses could become an important cornerstone of the Northern resurgence.”
Lee Petts, chief executive at the OESG, welcomes the report and its conclusions: “This latest study, like many others before it, again emphasises the huge supply chain prize linked to shale gas and other forms of onshore energy extraction.
“The North West has long been the industrial powerhouse of Britain. It could also one day be the centre of UK and European shale gas expertise, adding to its already world-class capabilities in nuclear and renewables.
“But to achieve that, we need to see coordinated action from central and local government, academia and industry, which Peel Gas & Oil is right to point out. It’s also vital that supply chain SMEs are included in these plans, and it was pleasing to see that acknowledged in the Amion report.”
Download the Amion report here.
It comes in the week that the major political parties in England published their 2015 election manifestos, with the Conservatives promising to establish a Sovereign Wealth Fund so that ‘the shale gas resources of the North are used to invest in the future of the North.’