By Dearbail Jordan, BBC Business Reporter
The government has called a halt to shale gas extraction – or fracking – in England amid fears about earthquakes.
It comes after a report by the Oil and Gas Authority said it was not possible to predict the probability or size of tremors caused by the practice.
Fracking has been suspended since a tremor in Lancashire in August.
Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said shale gas had “huge potential” but the government was “no longer convinced” it could be extracted safely.
Fracking was suspended after activity by Cuadrilla Resources – the only company licensed to carry out the process – at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire caused a magnitude 2.9 earthquake.
Mrs Leadsom said: “After reviewing the OGA’s report into recent seismic activity at Preston New Road, it is clear that we cannot rule out future unacceptable impacts on the local community.
For this reason, she said, she had concluded the government should put a moratorium on fracking “with immediate effect”.
The government says it will “take a presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents” and this will continue unless compelling new evidence is provided.
However, it has stopped short of an outright ban.
Fracking is a process in which liquid is pumped deep underground at high pressure to fracture shale rock and release gas or oil trapped within it.
Assessment by the British Geological Survey in 2013 suggested there were enough resources in the Bowland Shale across northern England to potentially provide up to 50 years of current gas demand.
But research published in August suggested there were only 5-7 years’ supply.
The UK’s fracking industry, which has suggested the process could contribute significantly to future energy needs, dismissed the report’s findings.
Fierce opposition
Fracking must be halted for 18 hours if it causes a tremor measuring 0.5 or above.
The government announcement is the second time it has placed a moratorium on fracking.
The first suspension, which lasted a year, was in November 2011 during the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.
Ms Leadsom said: “Shale gas offers huge potential in the UK, there’s no doubt about that”
Like this? Click to receive free EnviroPolitics Blog updates
“There’s also no doubt that in our determination to decarbonize, the continued use of gas will be very important for the next several decades so there’s no doubt that extracting more natural gas in the UK would be very attractive.
“But we’ve always been clear we can only do that if it can be done safely and on the advice from the Oil and Gas Authority we’re no longer convinced that is the case.”
The fracking industry has faced fierce opposition from both communities and environmental groups.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has in the past supported fracking, writing in the Daily Telegraph that the discovery of shale gas in the UK was “glorious news for humanity”.
A recent report by the National Audit Office found the UK had spent at least £32.7m supporting fracking since 2011.
Labour has promised to stop the technique if elected in the general election on 12 December.
Labour’s shadow business secretary, Rebecca Long Bailey, said: “The next Labour government will ban fracking – whereas the Tories will only call a temporary halt to it.
“You can’t trust a word the prime minister says.”
Both the Liberal Democrats and Green Party also support a ban on fracking.
All fracking in Scotland has been suspended since 2013 and the SNP recently confirmed that a policy of “no support” for the extraction method.
The Welsh Government has also opposed fracking for several years, with a “moratorium” in place since 2015, while there is a planning presumption against fracking in Northern Ireland.
The suspension in England will put pressure on Cuadrilla Resources which has so far invested £270m in the country’s shale gas industry.
Cuadrilla Resources has 30 full-time workers but also employs a number of contractors.
A spokeswoman for Cuadrilla Resources declined to comment.
If you liked this post you’ll love our daily newsletter, EnviroPolitics.
It’s packed with the latest news, commentary and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond.
Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.
