In the Northern Ireland Assembly today Economy Minister announced that he would bring
forward a proposal to ban onshore oil and gas exploration and
production in the north.
Minister Murphy said: “As climate change is one of the
defining challenges of our time, one of the key objectives of my
Economic Vision is to reduce carbon emissions. To meet our net
zero targets, a priority will be to move away from petroleum to
renewables. I intend to ban all forms of onshore petroleum
exploration and production – including fracking. This will not
only help us transition from fossil fuels to renewables but also
towards a greener economy and more sustainable way of life.
“The Department for the Economy currently has the power to grant
licences to companies to search for and extract onshore oil and
gas. My department recently consulted on the petroleum
licensing system. The consultation opened on 15th January and
closed on the 12th of April. The vast majority of respondents to
the consultation supported the move away from fossil fuels."
Highlighting the current bans in other jurisdictions, the
Minister continued: “The south of Ireland and Wales have
recently banned all onshore petroleum activity, and Scotland has
taken action on hydraulic fracturing, known as ‘fracking'. It is
now time for us to act.
“I will soon ask Executive colleagues to approve a ban and,
if this is granted, I will introduce legislation to this Assembly
to ban onshore petroleum licensing. This will require amendments
to the Petroleum (Production) Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 and
other regulations."
The Minister concluded: “The time involved in drafting the
legislation and allowing for committee scrutiny means that the
legislation will be introduced in 2025. In the meantime, my
department will not accept or process onshore petroleum licensing
applications.”
Notes to editors:
1. The Department for the Economy has the power to grant licences
“to explore for, bore for and get” onshore petroleum in Northern
Ireland. This power was granted by the Petroleum (Production) Act
(Northern Ireland) 1964 and has been supplemented by further
legislation since then.
2. There are currently no active petroleum licences in Northern
Ireland with the last active one relinquished in 2020.
3.There was a public consultation on onshore petroleum licensing
from 15 January – 12 April 2024.
