UK Parliament Report Creates Risk for Shale

Now that the hydraulic fracturing is under way onshore in the UK, a report on shale gas exploration and production has been published July 5 by a parliamentary select committee. It risks further extending an already lengthy approvals process, the UK Onshore Oil & Gas Group (Ukoog) said. 

Compiling the report, the authors considered whether the existing planning guidance for fracking planning applications should be updated, improved and consolidated; how Mineral Planning Authorities balance local and national need in determining fracking planning applications; and whether such applications should be dealt with under the Planning Act 2008 as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects. The government is yet to respond.

Ukoog said in a statement: "We do not support the committee’s recommendations opposing government proposals on permitted development rights and national planning. The report fails to address a main concern of both the industry and local communities, which is the fact that planning applications for even the simplest of wells now take up to 18 months to conclude and that many of the professional planning officers’ recommendations are ignored. This leaves communities with uncertainty and local taxpayers with a huge bill to foot, and is against the experience of the previous 10 years where most applications were decided in less than four months and against a statutory timescale of three months."

While the government believes that "shale gas development is of national importance", the committee has taken the view that shale gas sites should not be treated as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), Ukoog said. NSIPs are subject to a simpler approval process. "With gas providing half of British electricity, over 80% of our heating and vital feedstocks to industry, we find it concerning that the committee would seek to restrict our opportunity for homegrown production to replace our rapidly increasing dependency on imported gas and oil," Ukoog said.

The committee however explained this decision: classing them as NSIPs "would result in a significant loss to local decision-making, exacerbating existing mistrust between local communities and the fracking industry."

It continued: "The report also questions a number of the current definitions within statute but fails to give any land-use planning reason why they should be changed. The report as a result fails to consider one of the key reasons why there are so many delays in the planning process, which is that many of the issues raised during the review of a planning application are, in fact, the responsibility of other regulators.”

However, it said there were parts of the report "which the industry has some sympathy with, in part around the role of the new regulator, funding of local authorities and the need to have a forum where the general public can access relevant guidance."

The report may be read here.