UK Operators Slam Labour's Frack Ban Plan

The UK Onshore Operators Group (UKOOG) accused the Labour Party July 30 of neglecting to take into account a "critical element" of the Committee on Climate Change's 'Net Zero' report.

The Labour Party had said, in a July 14 release, that ‘"offshoring our emissions isn’t just bad for the climate, it’s bad for UK industry."

But if the CCC's report is right, natural gas will still be required in 2050 at a rate of 70% of today’s consumption, said UKOOG, meaning that it should produce more of its own gas, rather than offshoring it. That does not fit with Labour's call for a ban on hydraulic fracturing.

The UK imports half its gas demand, with increasing quantities arriving via tankers from Russia, US, Peru and other countries. This gas has double the production, processing and transport emissions of UK shale gas, said UKOOG; and the UK's dependence on it will reach 86% by 2050. "However, those imported gas emissions are not within the UK’s carbon budgets. In effect the UK can ‘offshore’ its emissions by importing more carbon intensive natural gas – the one thing the Labour Party apparently wants to avoid."

 UKOOG CEO Ken Cronin said: "Labour seems to want it both ways – no shale gas but no offshoring of emissions. But these are mutually exclusive propositions and Labour’s denial of the facts about homegrown UK production will only lead to us relying more and more on higher emission imports from Qatar and Russia. Leading independent climate change experts are clear: we will need natural gas well beyond 2050 to deliver Net Zero. Labour should be supporting the UK gas industry to create UK jobs as we work towards meeting our emissions targets.”

The same day, Cuadrilla CEO Francis Egan invited Jeremy Corbyn to visit the Lancashire fracking site to engage with locals and see things for himself. The company has been preparing for a fracking campaign to run until the end of November.