Anger as fracking report is kept secret
Publication ‘could call viability into question’
THE GOVERNMENT has refused to publish a confidential Cabinet Office report about fracking on the grounds that doing so “could call into question the industry’s viability”, The Yorkshire Post can reveal.
Parts of the Implementation Unit Report on Shale Gas created in 2016 were made public last month following Freedom of Information requests by Greenpeace, with details that far fewer wells were now forecast to be in operation by 2025 than previously expected leading to suggestions that the potential of the controversial industry has been overestimated.
Seven gas firms have licences to explore whether fracking is feasible across vast swathes of Yorkshire, with Prime Minister Theresa May telling The Yorkshire
Post last month that the process of extracting shale gas from rocks deep underground could reduce the nation’s reliance on imported energy.
Rother Valley MP Sir Kevin Barron submitted a Freedom of Information request last month asking for the full Cabinet Office report to be made public – a request which has now been rejected. The five-page response from the Cabinet Office said that while there was a public interest in releasing details as it recognised “decisions Ministers make regarding fracking may have a significant impact on the lives of the citizens”, it would be keeping the report private on the grounds of protecting Ministerial policy discussions, as well as for commercial confidentiality reasons.
The response added: “The British shale gas industry is still an emerging market. Release of information from 2016, even with the passage of time, could call into question the industry’s viability. The requested information was classified as confidential and commercially sensitive, and includes confidential commercial information shared with the Government by third parties.”
Sir Kevin, whose constituency includes two areas where petrochemicals giant Ineos hopes to conduct fracking exploration work, said today: “It is not acceptable for the Government to refuse to release this report. People close to the proposed fracking sites deserve to see all the evidence that the Government has.”
Last month, Greenpeace’s journalism unit Unearthed reported that the Cabinet Office analysis predicted there could be about 155 fracking wells in operation by 2025. That figure calls into question previous industry estimates that 4,000 wells could be in operation by 2032, producing enough gas to supply the equivalent of 20m homes in the process.
No fracking has taken place in the UK since 2011, when earth tremors in Lancashire were found to be result of test drilling. The start of test-fracking in Yorkshire has been considerably delayed at the most advanced site in Kirby Misperton, Ryedale. Gas firm Third Energy had wanted to start work last year but has now said it will not begin until autumn as it awaits the outcome of a Government review of its finances.
FRACKING IS a subject that undoubtedly divides opinion but both supporters and opponents of the shale gas industry should be united in wishing to be properly informed about how the Government sees the process working in this country.
The fact that the Cabinet Office has refused to publish a 2016 report into implementing the industry in this country on the grounds that doing so “could call into question the industry’s viability” is cause for considerable concern.
The refusal to provide the report to Yorkshire MP Kevin Barron comes in the context of parts of it being made public last month under Freedom of Information laws, with the limited disclosures revealing far fewer wells are now forecast to be in operation by 2025 than previously expected; casting doubt on previous estimates that 4,000 wells could be in place by 2032 and capable of providing power to 20m homes.
The Government says that fracking is necessary as a way of reducing the nation’s reliance on imported energy. But it has already acknowledged the impact it is expected to have on local communities by establishing a £1bn fund to support affected places, potentially including compensation payments to homeowners.
As has been seen in the village of Kirby Misperton in Ryedale, where a protest camp is only now shutting down after more than a year and following more than 80 arrests, just the prospect of the arrival of fracking brings turmoil and disruption. Even those who support the industry in principle have legitimate cause to be concerned about the impact on daily life given seven companies are currently developing plans to explore whether fracking is feasible across vast swathes of Yorkshire.
People living close to planned fracking sites deserve to see the evidence that is available about how, and indeed if, the industry can work in this country.