When is Horizontal Drilling not Trespass?

Despite what I said the other day about the seeming lack of a "shale gas revolution" the recent announcement by HMG about potential changes to legislation to allow drilling beneath land owned by others does demonstate that some parts of government are trying to push exploration for shale hydrocarbons forward. Currently it seems that legal precedent gives ownership rights as far down as one can define "strata" as this briefing from the Hugh James practice explains. As the HJ piece says - the final balance between land-owners' rights and energy exploration is an interesting one.