The bank is supporting the search for shale gas in Yorkshire and could fund fracking in the area as early as next year. Third Energy, which is 97pc-owned by Barclays Natural Resource Investments, took shale rock samples while drilling this summer and is now analysing their potential.
The company has drilling rights across a 154 square mile area around the Vale of Pickering, which sits above part of the Bowland shale formation. The British Geological Survey estimates that 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas lies within the Bowland. If 10pc could be extracted it could meet UK needs for 40 years.
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