Leaders still interested in £100bn gas field under Gainsborough and government still says no
The government remains adamant that a giant gas field discovered below Gainsborough last year won’t be touched, despite local interest.
It is worth £112 billion and could power the UK for decades, according to the company which discovered it.
The huge energy deposit is centred under Gainsborough and contains 480 million cubic metres of gas – ten times the UK’s annual usage.
Since it was announced in February 2025, neither side has shifted position.
While local leaders say it could potentially provide thousands of jobs and lower energy bills, there is a ban on new fracking due to safety concerns.
Reform Councillor Danny Brookes, executive councillor for environment at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “The Gainsborough gas field could represent an opportunity for growth and investment in our region.
“If exploratory investigations are accurate, it could supply the country for decades and create thousands of high-skilled jobs without the need for solar projects that threaten to turn our countryside into a desert of glass.
“However, there are yet to be any proposals of how to tap into this source, so while we recognise the potential benefits of the Gainsborough trough we need to be cautiously optimistic about any development and its impact on local communities.”
The government has reiterated that the gas field won’t be exploited while it’s in power.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “Fracking for shale gas is unsafe and will not take a penny off bills – that’s why we will permanently end new onshore oil and gas licences.
“The only way to protect household energy bills from volatile fossil fuel markets is with clean homegrown power that we control.”
The discovery was made by Egdon, which is owned by American energy giant HEYCO.
Onshore fracking – a method of extracting oil and gas from deep underground – was restricted by the previous government over concerns it caused small earthquakes.
Reform UK has promised to reverse the ban if they come into power.
Mayor Andrea Jenkyns previously said: “[Energy secretary] Ed Miliband has a ban on fracking, but Reform says ‘drill baby, drill’.”