The Minister of State at the Department for Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy, , responded to an Urgent Question
on the government's plans for fracking.
Mr. Speaker, in response to Putin’s barbaric acts in Ukraine and
against the Ukrainian people, we need to keep all of our energy
options open. We’ve always been clear that the development of
shale gas in the UK must be safe and cause minimal disruption and
damage to those living and working nearby sites.
This is not
a new position. Shale gas and new approaches could be part of our
future energy mix, but we need to be led by the science and have
the support of local communities. And that was in our general
election manifesto, which he and I stood on at the last election.
The pause on fracking implemented in November 2019 on the basis
of the difficulty in predicting and managing seismic activity
caused by fracking, remains in place and we will continue to be
led by the science on our approach.
Mr Speaker, we are clear that shale gas is not the solution to
near-term issues. It would take years of exploration and
development before commercial quantities of shale gas could be
produced. Additionally, fracking relies on a continued series of
new wells, each of which produces gas for a relatively short
time, even if the pools were lifted. There is unlikely to be
sufficient quantities of gas available to address the high prices
affecting all of Western Europe, and would certainly have no
effect on prices in the near term.
As the Business Secretary has said we will continue to back our
vital North Sea oil and gas sector to maximise domestic
production while transitioning to cheaper, cleaner, home grown
power at the same time. Mr Speaker will shortly set out an energy
supply strategy which will supercharge our renewable energy and
nuclear capacity, as well as supporting our North Sea oil and gas
industry.
