Fracking ban lifted and gas could f low within six months
GAS produced by fracking could be flowing within as little as six months after the ban was lifted yesterday, Liz Truss said.
The Prime Minister insisted fracking will not be forced on communities without their consent as she gave the green light for drilling to restart.
She made the announcement as part of plans to increase domestic energy production in the face of soaring bills.
Ministers will also seek new sources of energy supply from North Sea oil and gas, as well as clean power including nuclear, wind and solar.
Fracking was halted in 2019 due to concerns about earth tremors.
In the Commons, Miss Truss said: ‘We will end the moratorium on extracting our huge reserves of shale – which could get gas flowing as soon as six months – where there is local support for it.’
The Daily Mail revealed last month that fracking firms were drawing up plans to offer residents discounts of up to 25 per cent off their energy bills in communities where shale gas is extracted.
Campaigners yesterday raised fears about the possible impact on local areas, as well as arguing it is incompatible with efforts to cut climate-warming fossil fuels and switch to clean energy.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer warned it would ‘drive a coach and horses through our efforts to fight the looming climate crisis’. But Levelling
Up Secretary Simon Clarke insisted it will be done ‘in the most sensitive possible way with community consent at the absolute heart’.
Francis Egan, chief executive of energy company Cuadrilla, which has fracking operations in Lancashire, welcomed the move.
‘A thriving shale gas industry will drive job creation across the North of England, generate much-needed tax revenues for central and local government, and benefit local communities financially,’ he said.
Fracking involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into boreholes a mile underground to fracture the rock and release gas or oil.
The process has been mired in controversy since 2011 when it caused two minor earthquakes in Lancashire. Local resident and energy sector worker Simon Hinks said it was time to exploit Lancashire’s shale gas reserves for the benefit of both the county and the UK as a whole.
‘People and businesses in Lancashire are crying out for help with energy bills, and it’s time we seized this opportunity to take advantage of this asset which lies beneath our feet,’ he said.
‘We always get rent-a-mob types coming here from other parts of Britain trying to politicise the debate over fracking, but I’m confident that the majority of Lancashire residents welcome the economic benefits it can bring the county.’
But Claire Stephenson, of protest group Frack Free Lancashire, claimed it would be ‘both dangerous and regressive’ to resume fracking while the world was ‘in the midst of a climate crisis’.
‘It’s time we seized this opportunity’