A CONTROVERSIAL gas drilling operation in a North Yorkshire beauty spot has been granted a government licence to carry on extracting for a further two years.
Oil and gas company Moorland Energy said the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) granted an extension to its licence to carry on preliminary work at the site at Ebberston on the North York Moors.
The original licence expired at the end of January, and Moorland said the extension meant it could now complete initial work at the site before the construction of an extraction plant.
Moorland chief executive, Lawrie Erasmus, said: “We are obviously very pleased that DECC has extended the second term of our licence to enable us to complete these pre-commencement works before the construction of the Ryedale Gas Project can begin in earnest.
“We will soon be appointing the main contractors for the infrastructure development, which will include the pipeline from the wellhead to the planned processing facility in Hurrell Lane, outside Thornton- le-Dale.”
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