WITH a Tory government minister sounding so wildly enthusiastic about fracking for shale gas (Echo, August 2), it is reassuring for us that PEDL 238 (a drilling block with corners round Corfe Mullen, Hamworthy, Mudeford and Bransgore and so effectively right under the conurbation) has its potential 100 million barrels of oil contained within five conventional oil reservoirs.

As a comparison of the size, these five new reservoirs total about 20 per cent of the Wytch Farm deposits.

There are half a dozen more other smaller reservoirs off shore under the bay, totalling possibly another 50 million barrels. And all the reservoirs are named after fish.

The nearest potential fracking site to us appears to be under the Isle of Wight in PEDL 239, a block owned by the same two companies as PEDL 238.

Yet fracking in PEDL 239 is surely a less attractive prospect than fracking in Sussex and Lancashire.

So fracking on the Isle of Wight isn’t likely to begin quickly.

And delay will be good.

In my understanding, the enthusiasm for shale gas exploitation is entirely misplaced and, like sub-prime mortgage investments, any enthusiasm for it will quickly evaporate when the full picture is revealed.

DR MARTIN RODGER, Bloxworth Road, Poole