Ineos, Britain’s largest closely held company, has taken another step toward creating a shale boom on its side of the Atlantic.
The company promoted Ron Coyle to the chief executive role of its shale division. He has been with Ineos for almost 20 years, most recently as commercial director for its phenol division. He will oversee a subsidiary that includes three of the engineers that helped to start the US hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” boom in Texas.
Mr Coyle’s tasks include winning over a sceptical British public, which has been loathe to extend reliance on fossil fuels and has doubts about the safety of fracking. He will also be in charge of a gas exploration campaign criss-crossing England, with success - in the form of commercial quantities of the fuel - not guaranteed.
Ineos’ fracking plans are already underway. The company is the largest holder of UK shale gas exploration licences, with more than 1 million acres (405,000 hectares). It foresees drilling dozens of wells within the next year, and has submitted planning applications for two sites in northern England and proposed a third.
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Read more:
BP sells crucial oil pipeline in North Sea to Ineos
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The company has said exploring shale gas is the best option for Britain, which may import almost 80 per cent of its gas by 2035 and is reducing its reliance on more carbon-intensive coal. Still, support for domestic exploration remains low, with only 16 per cent of the public approving of shale gas extraction, according to a government survey. A third of Britons disapprove, and the Labour Party and Liberal Democrat Party pledged to ban fracking in their party manifestos before June’s general election.
Concerns intensified in 2011 when fracking caused two earthquakes in north-west England. Although they were barely felt, the government put a one-year ban on the practice before saying it could be done safely. Two companies, Cuadrilla Resources, which caused the earthquakes, and Third Energy UK Gas have permission to frack wells in the UK and expect to complete the work by next year.
Mr Coyle has already started his new post, replacing Gary Haywood, who retired.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
