The government is expected to announce on Friday that the Weald Basin in southern England contains billions of barrels of shale oil, delivering a potentially huge boost to an embryonic industry in the UK. The announcement will set the scene for a stand-off between Britain’s small band of domestic shale explorers and the well-heeled residents of one of the Tories’ traditional heartlands . The government will unveil the results of a study by the British Geological Survey, the latest in its reports on unconventional oil and gas potential. It will focus on the Weald, an area spanning Sussex, Hampshire, Kent and Surrey. Last year, the BGS published a study of the Bowland Shale in northern England, which, it said, contained about 1,300tn cubic feet of gas. Even if only a tenth of that is extracted, it would be the equivalent of 40 years’ gas supply for the UK. The […]