Ineos has found a fresh occasion to aim its pro-shale battering ram at the Scottish government’s door. Despite protestations earlier this year that it is quite content to bide its time with shale gas exploration in England until Scotland decides to end its moratorium on fracking and allow test drilling, the Swiss-based group continues to lean heavily on Holyrood.

On the heels of new British Prime Minister Theresa May’s announcement of a consultation on a Shale Wealth Fund that would award thousands of pounds to affected communities and householders in England – Ineos has promised top-up incentives – Gary Haywood, CEO of Ineos Shale, asked rhetorically why Scotland is still “dithering” over the issue while its neighbors to the south are poised to benefit from a “cash bonanza.”

“At Ineos we welcome the payments as part of the benefits shale gas will bring,” Haywood said, adding: “This new measure will sit nicely alongside our existing commitment to provide 6% of our shale gas revenue to residents, landowners and communities near our development areas should the projects come to fruition.”

Opposition to fracking in Scotland remains strong, with scores of environmental groups recently announcing or carrying out protest demonstration. The national government itself has refused to be rushed into a decision. Like other company managers, Haywood insisted that shale gas-sourced ethane imported from the US to the tune of £450 million has “provided a new lease of life” for itsmammoth Grangemouth petrochemical site in Scotland.

Ineos’ £1.5 billion total commitment to establish the supply “will enable Grangemouth to deliver a sustainable profit and secure thousands of jobs,” he said, while suggesting that shale could bring about a “manufacturing renaissance in the UK such as the US has already seen.”

In July, John McNally, CEO of Ineos Olefins and Polymers, leveraged the appointment of a new British cabinet to press Scotland into a decision, saying this would be a “double win,” as the country would have “lots of natural gas again” and feedstock to supply chemical plants.

McNally also asked rhetorically why Ineos should have to pay millions to import and store US ethane, “when the needed resources lie a couple of kilometers underneath our feet in Grangemouth.”