Ineos has acquired the 51% stake owned by BG Group in a UK shale gas exploration license. The remaining 49% is in the hands of Dart Energy, which is in the process of being taken over British fracking company IGas Energy.

The licence covers 127 square miles of Scotland's Midland Valley, which includes the Swiss-based chemical producer's Grangemouth refinery and petrochemical complex as well as the surrounding area, spanning the Firth of Forth and including Grangemouth, Falkirk and much of Stirling.

Calling the buy a "logical next step," Gary Haywood, CEO of Ineos Upstream, said that over the past year the Ineos group company has been putting together a team of experts in the sector, including a number of leading shale exploration and development specialists from the US.

"This expertise gives us the perfect platform to move into onshore exploration," Haywood remarked.

No shale gas exploration has yet taken place in the area, but Dart calculates that it could contain 4.4 trillion cubic feet of gas. If 10% were recoverable, some estimates suggest this could provide enough gas to meet Scotland's needs for more than a year.

The Ineos announcement came as anti-fracking activists across the UK gathered for a day of action, in part involving blockades at the offices of energy companies and government agencies.

While a survey conducted in June is said to have shown that in the UK altogether as much as 57% of respondents were in favour of shale gas exploration, those in London and Scotland showed the least amount of support, at 52% and 53% respectively.