Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of potential tax revenue to the Exchequer from shale gas and oil products in each region and constituent part of the UK.

Reports by the British Geological Survey’s clearly demonstrate the potential for shale gas in the UK. Shale gas has the potential to increase our energy security, generate growth and support thousands of jobs, and the government is doing everything it can to support the safe and sustainable development of shale gas. This is why we introduced the onshore allowance, to incentivise investment in onshore oil and gas projects and kick-start exploration. Last year, the industry also announced that local communities would receive £100,000 when a test well is fracked – and a further 1 per cent of revenues if shale gas is discovered.

More work is needed to determine the extent of the gas that can be technically and commercially recovered. While there is clearly potential for shale gas to provide substantial revenue to the Exchequer in the future, no forecasts have been produced on the scale or timing of the revenue.