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The idea of the undead fascinates people. An average of 20 zombie films are released every year. The idea of fracking for natural gas in the UK also gets attention every time it rises from the grave. Hordes of placard-wielding villagers chase the natural gas exploration companies away; they turn up in a different form elsewhere.

The latest sighting has come near the Yorkshire village of Kirby Misperton. This case differs from that of other UK gas explorers, such as Cuadrilla. Third Energy has produced gas in the area for 20 years and applied last summer to stimulate a well using hydraulic fracking. Its fields, which have started to run out, produce fuel for its smallish (42MW) electricity generation plant. Water for fracking and any gas out would travel through already installed pipes, minimising disturbance. Its application was approved.

Even so, locals shrieked at the possibility of ghastly frack trucks showing up elsewhere in the area. Other companies are also keen to find gas — not just relative minnows such as Cuadrilla but also the likes of Ineos, a privately owned UK chemicals group with $40bn in turnover. And the UK government likes the idea of energy independence, given that the British Geological Survey has estimated a total resource of more than 1,000tn cubic feet beneath Yorkshire and Lancashire. That is easily 10 times all the gas ever produced from the North Sea.

Recovering even a tiny fraction of this resource could make a difference. But not at any price. Spot gas prices, at about 30p per therm, already trade below estimates of what it would cost to produce shale gas from UK fields. IGas, which also had been exploring in old coal seams, has now decided not to bother. It will, however, continue with shale gas for the time being. Meanwhile, US gas output rises every year and storage there is nearly full. Exports are on their way to Britain. Centrica is one of the importers.

Yet the cult following still believes that fracking in the UK could be profitable. Investors should allow market forces to finally kill it off.

This article has been amended to reflect that IGas has not stopped its shale gas activities

Email the Lex team at lex@ft.com

Letter in response to this column:

Shale gas will boost UK energy security / From Ken Cronin