Unconventional hydrocarbon exploration in the UK is in its infancy and Third Energy's activities represent a major step towards unlocking the potential contained within the Carboniferous section beneath North Yorkshire. In the United States, production from unconventional petroleum systems has transformed the country's domestic energy markets. If the UK can replicate this success, it would go some way to offsetting the decline of North Sea production and thereby reduce dependence on foreign imports.

At the end of 2015, no other company had undertaken any unconventional exploration in North Yorkshire and great uncertainty remained over the region's prospectivity. To rectify...