Fracking firm Third Energy eyes £500m listing

A North Yorkshire fracking firm is plotting a £500m stockmarket float to attract new investment capital.

Third Energy is understood to be drawing up plans and hopes to raise £250m from the move.

The firm's owners, Global National Resource Investment (GNRI), has appointed investment bankers from Lazard to explore a listing, the Sunday Times reported.

Third Energy has a licence to drill for shale gas in the vale of Pickering on the North York Moors.

The Conservative manifesto said shale gas discovery and extraction has been a "revolution" in the US. The Tories added it has also meant the US is less reliant on foreign energy and "is more secure as a result".

It added: "We will therefore develop the shale industry in Britain."

The Tory party tempered its statements with a call for fracking firms to enter into better dialogue with local communities. Third Energy has come into conflict with local residents over concerns about impact of the fracking process on homes and communities.

Fracking is controversial for a variety of reasons, including climate change and an alleged correlation between fracking and earthquakes. There are also hotly contested claims that the high-pressure fluid used to force gas from shale deep below ground can leak and poison groundwater, and in some cases reported in the US apparently causing tap water to be flammable.

Third Energy has operated in the area for more than 20 years using more convention exploration techniques. It has promised to give one per cent revenues to local residents.

GNRI declined to comment on the listing plans.

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