UKOOG chief warns fracking ban will increase industry gas imports
22 May 2017
Political opposition to the shale fracking in the UK will contribute to a growing demand for gas imports and saddle every household in the country with an additional bill of more than £300, warned the chief executive of UK Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG).
Responding to election pledges from Labour and Liberal Democrats to oppose fracking and Tory support for the process, Ken Cronin said that if the UK did not develop its own onshore resources, it would need to import more than three quarters of its gas resources by 2037.
“By using the natural gas we have just a mile under our feet, we ensure that the British public have the means to heat and power their homes for generations,” he said.
“Analysis shows that the industry could also provide around 64,000 UK jobs, so it’s encouraging to see that the Conservative Party is looking towards British home-grown energy for the future.”
Analysis shows that the industry could provide around 64,000 UK jobs
Ken Cronin, chief executive, UKOOG
Labour’s manifesto stated that fracking would lock the country into an energy infrastructure based on fossil fuels “long after the point in 2030 when the Committee on Climate Change says gas in the UK must sharply decline”.
The UKOOG chief said the party’s stance had shifted markedly in the last two years and he also pointed out that the Liberal Democrats had supported fracking when in government.
“Policy makers should remember that as well as producing nearly half of the UK’s electricity and being a feedstock for industry, gas is used by 84% of our homes for heating,” he commented.
“Within the next two decades 75% of that gas is forecast to be supplied from outside the UK.”
