Fracking sites could get a stay of execution
Fracking sites could get a stay of execution as ministers eye plan to use them for research, report says
- Ministers said to be considering using two fracking sites for future research
- The wells in Lancashire were due to be sealed off within weeks but now operators have until June
- But No 10 has insisted that their position on fracking hasn’t changed
Two fracking sites have been granted a stay of execution, it was reported last night, amid a Tory rebellion over the continued ban on the technology.
Ministers are said to be considering using them for future research, rather than concreting them over. It comes amid rising concerns over soaring energy prices.
The wells in Lancashire – unused since 2019 after test drilling was suspended due to concerns about earthquakes – were due to be sealed off within weeks, but operators now have until June to do so.
Ahead of a new energy strategy to be released next week, a Whitehall source told The Sun that ‘talks are ongoing’.
The wells in Lancashire – unused since 2019 after test drilling was suspended due to concerns about earthquakes – were due to be sealed off within weeks, but operators now have until June to do so (file image)
However, No 10 insisted that ‘our position on fracking hasn’t changed’.
The Government is under growing pressure to reverse its ban on fracking to extract shale gas, with supporters arguing it would increase Britain’s energy independence.
Tory MPs hit out last month when the only company fracking in Britain was ordered to plug its wells.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the minister for Brexit opportunities, urged critics of the technology to have a ‘sense of proportion’ about the tremors caused by fracking.
He told his podcast yesterday they were only as bad as ‘a bus passing your house’, adding ‘it’s not the San Francisco earthquake’, in reference to the 1906 disaster which killed thousands.
However, No 10 insisted that ‘our position on fracking hasn’t changed’ (file image)
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