Billionaire: The SNP are not opposed to fracking
Ineos boss believes shale gas industry could be active in Scotland by 2018
THE billionaire who wants to establish a large-scale fracking industry in Scotland says he has received private assurances from the SNP that the party is “not against” the controversial technique.
Jim Ratcliffe, the chief executive and chairman of chemical giant Ineos, said that, despite the Scottish Government imposing a moratorium on fracking and the SNP presenting themselves as against unconventional oil and gas during the recent General Election campaign, he believed an onshore shale gas industry could potentially be up and running on a commercial scale by 2018.
Ineos, which holds fracking exploration licences across 700 square miles of the country, is to seek formal permission to begin test-drilling and seismic testing imminently, and is confident that the work will not breach the moratorium as it will not involve actual fracking. On this basis, the firm believes test-drilling for shale gas across central Scotland is on course to begin within a year.
Meanwhile, Tom Crotty, director of Ineos, said that while many SNP members opposed fracking, it would be “logical” for its supporters to get behind a large-scale shale gas industry in Scotland, as it would bolster tax revenues and therefore the economic case for independence.
The senior industry figures spoke to The Herald in China yesterday where the first two of eight state-of-the-art ships that will transport huge quantities of US shale gas to a giant, purpose-built tank in Grangemouth from next year were officially named following their completion. The pair repeatedly reiterated the firm’s determination to create an indigenous fracking industry, as well as making use of imported US gas.
Mr Ratcliffe said that it was no exaggeration to claim Grangemouth could become the “new Aberdeen” as a European energy leader, should Scotland embrace fracking.
“[The Scottish Government] are being quite clear. What they’ve said to us is they’re not against fracking. But what they do need to do is get comfortable with whether they’re happy with the risks of fracking in Scotland. They want to spend a couple of years understanding it in more detail. I think that’s a responsible thing for them to do and say. We don’t need to do any fracking for the next couple of years. What we’d like to do is just drill a couple of holes, do the seismic, and just find out what’s down there.”
Mr Ratcliffe added that a shale gas industry could secure Scotland’s energy supply, with one shale site in Pennsylvania producing two-and-a-half times more gas than the entire UK consumes.
He added: “If there is good shale under Scotland ... people don’t realise how significant these things can be. Scotland does need a viable energy policy.
“The North Sea, whether they like it or not, is declining and it’s declining very rapidly and the amount of investment in the North Sea has reduced dramatically in the last couple of years. Scotland needs to think about where it goes when the North Sea has declined even further. It will still need to heat the houses and run the factories.”
During the General Election campaign, the SNP produced official badges and posters with the phrase “Frack Off” alongside a party logo, which the party claimed were a reference to the moratorium. Many nationalist candidates, now MPs, said they opposed fracking in their election literature.
The Scottish Government has yet to publish detailed information on further research and a public consultation that will take place on fracking, although it is anticipated that the process will not be completed until after next year’s Holyrood election. Ineos hopes to begin seismic testing and test-drilling within 12 to 18 months, with a fracking industry and multiple fracking wells potentially up and running within three to five years if results are encouraging.
The Scottish Government has the power to block fracking developments through the planning process, and with full powers over licensing set to be devolved to Holyrood, the decision over
whether to allow fracking will rest in Edinburgh.
Mr Crotty said fracking should be “top of the agenda” for those who support independence, despite Ineos encountering strong opposition from many SNP members during a series of town-hall style community engagement events it has set up in a bid to win over a sceptical public.
Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “The Scottish Government is officially neither for nor against fracking, that is after all why we are having a moratorium while the evidence is examined and the public are asked what they think.”
Dr Dixon continued: “We don’t share Ineos’ rosy view of the world. We’re convinced that Scotland will move to a full ban on fracking when we’ve looked at the evidence of health impacts, environmental contamination and climate change emissions that this industry has brought elsewhere.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said of Mr Ratcliffe’s comments: “This simply reflects what we have already said publicly on this issue – no fracking can or will take place in Scotland while the moratorium we have announced remains in place, a policy that has received wide support from both environmental groups and industry.
“We are taking a considered and evidence-based approach to unconventional oil and gas.”