Government approves Cuadrilla fracking application

Because of the decision, Cuadrilla will be the first company to frack shale rock horizontally in the UK, a technique which is expected to produce more gas than vertical methods.

The onshore oil and gas industry is committed to producing this gas in the safest and most environmentally sensitive way possible and to creating jobs and opportunities in the supply chain

UKOOG chief executive Ken Cronin

UKOOG, the representative body of the UK’s onshore oil and gas industry, welcomed the decision, describing it as “an important step forward towards determining what gas resources we have under our feet”.

UKOOG chief executive Ken Cronin suggested the move could lead to the development of a sustainable onshore natural gas exploration industry in the UK.

“The onshore oil and gas industry is committed to producing this gas in the safest and most environmentally sensitive way possible and to creating jobs and opportunities in the supply chain,” Cronin said.

Trade union GMB said fracking activity in the UK would “reduce the gas we will need to import from regimes fronted by henchmen, hangmen and head choppers”.

Stuart Fegan, GMB national officer for the gas industry, said: “This pragmatic decision is an important step forward for energy security in the UK and will help close the UK balance of payments deficit which amounts to £90 billion per year.”

However, despite the numerous positives of creating a shale gas industry in the UK, Phil Foster, managing director of business energy price comparison site Love Energy Savings, said the possible consequences could not be ignored.

“A 2015 study by Defra, based in Canada, highlighted that houses in a 4km proximity of a gas well could experience a 7% price drop. There were also the worrying reports in 2011 of fracking being the ‘likely cause’ of earth tremors in the North West.

“In the US there have been reports of contaminated drinking water as a result of fracking. These potential side effects simply cannot be glossed over in favour of economic benefits.”

Jenifer Baxter, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), said fracking in the UK has the potential to contribute to securing gas supplies and creating much-needed highly skilled jobs in regions such as Lancashire and Yorkshire.

However, she said the fact that thousands of objections have been lodged about the plans shows that there is a lot more work that needs to be done by engineering institutions, oil and gas companies and others in favour of fracking trials.

"Fracking of rock for shale gas extraction is new to the UK and we need to progress step by step to ensure that it can be exploited safely and economically here. All parties need to gain experience together and build trust. Only then can local authorities and communities make informed decisions based on real data for their locality.”

Meanwhile, environmentalist group Greenpeace described the decision as “fudged”. The group stated that the government was struggling to force fracking on a reluctant nation.

“Fracking will put our countryside and air quality at risk. Digging up more fossil fuels that we can’t burn if we are to honour the international agreement we signed in Paris and is coming into force soon makes little economic or environmental sense,” said Greenpeace campaigner Hannah Martin.

Also commenting on today's decision, Claire Jakobsson, Head of Energy and Climate Policy at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said the UK could see shale oil and gas production start within the next 18 months.

"It’s hoped that this development will provide vital information on the longer-term prospects for a UK shale industry. Approval of the second application, currently under consideration, would help to build this picture further and we hope the green light will be given for this too in due course," she said.

Fracking at Cuadrilla’s Roseacre Wood site has not been given approval at this time.