INEOS Awarded Rights to Explore for Shale Gas

Ed:"Tarvin Parish Council has forwarded this email for Tarvin Residents to note, received from INEOSS Chief Executive, Gary Haywood at the end of December 2015."

Officerubj: INEOS- Email to town and parish clerks

Dear Parish Clerk,
Following the announcement of the award of Petroleum, Exploration and Development Licences (PEDL's) by the UK Government last week, the purpose of this email is to introduce INEOS Upstream as the Operator of the licence covering your area. Please forward this on to members of your
committee.

INEOS Upstream has been awarded acreage in three main geographic areas, Yorkshire, the East Midlands and Cheshire. Maps with the licence areas identified are attached along with a copy of the press release for your information.

Ed:"The Cheshire Survey Area can be downloaded here, and, the Press Release can be downloaded here"
An award of a PEDL allows the company the right to explore for hydrocarbons (oil or gas) that may be trapped in commercially viable quantities below ground. Our interest is focused on discovering whether gas can be produced from the shale layer of rock some 3-5 km's below the surface.

Any drilling or fracking operations to establish this would still of course be subject to the normal planning process through the local planning authority including extensive consultation with the community.
INEOS Upstream is committed to open, transparent and ongoing communication with the communities in its licence areas. This message is just the start of that process.

About INEOS

• INEOS Upstream is a part of INEOS the chemicals company.
• INEOS Shale is our shale gas operating business.
• INEOS is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, speciality chemicals and oil products. It comprises 15 businesses each with a major chemical company heritage. Its network spans 65 sites in 16 countries throughout the world.

INEOS products make a significant contribution to saving life, improving health and enhancing standards of living for people around the world. Our businesses produce the raw materials that are essential in the manufacture of a wide variety of goods: from paints to plastics, textiles to technology, and medicines to mobile phones.' Chemicals manufactured by INEOS enhance almost
every aspect of modern life.

INEOS is also one of the UK's largest manufacturing businesses. It employs 4000 people in the UK across 7 sites. It uses gas at its manufacturing sites as a feedstock or energy source. The company also owns land, pipelines and storage in some of the key areas being explored in the UK. All that, coupled with INEOS' clear manufacturing excellence, strong safety focus and good relationships with the communities in which it operates, means that INEOS brings something unique to this emerging industry.

Further information on shale gas
INEOS has produced a series of informational videos and leaflets about shale gas and its production.
Titles such as 'INEOS and our vision for Shale Gas', 'Shale Gas Key Facts', 'Reasons for extracting', 'Chemicals additives used in Fracking' and 'Community and the INEOS promise' can be found on the Films & Literature page on our website www.ineosupstream.com

What happens next?

In some areas we will need to carry out an assessment of the geology using 'seismic data acquisition' which is effectively 2 and 3 dimensional scanning of the subsurface to get a very detailed understanding of the layers of rock beneath us. We are also likely to submit a number of
planning applications during 2016 with a view to drilling up to four vertical wells across both the Cheshire and East Midlands basins in 2017, with the option to extend the wells horizontally and perform a fracking operation if the initial results are encouraging.
These initial wells will provide us with information to better understand the geology and the potential to produce gas at commercial rates.

Ongoing communication

Although seismic data acquisition does not require planning permission we feel it is important to inform communities about all our activities and we intend holding community exhibitions ahead of any seismic acquisition programme. The exhibitions will have staff and resources available to explain how seismic data is acquired, the duration, equipment involved and what you might see or hear during the programme. The exhibitions will also have general information on the whole
process of extraction of gas from shale rock
.
Ahead of submission of any planning application to drill and/or frack a well we will hold community exhibitions where INEOS staff will explain our plans, what is involved and answer any questions the communities may have. INEOS also commits to keeping the communities informed as the
planning application progresses and throughout the operations, if approved.

From our experience in Scotland, INEOS is often asked to provide a representative to speak to
community groups, parish councils, and charitable and business clubs. We are very happy to continue to do so.

In addition to the website we also have Facebook and Twitter pages and also can be contacted directly through this email address: Shale.information@ineos.com
Gary Haywood
Chief Executive Officer
INEOS Shale