The energy department was questioned in parliament yesterday on the legal definition of fracking.

Gideon Amos, the Lib Dem’s housing spokesperson, asked about plans to look at the legal volume thresholds and geological criteria.

Replying the energy minister, Michael Shanks, said any future decision on national planning policy for fracking would “take into account all volumes of hydraulic fracturing”. He used the same words in a parliamentary answer in June 2025.

Currently, the law defines only one specific type of fracking, known as associated hydraulic fracturing.

To qualify as associated hydraulic fracturing, The Petroleum Act 1998 requires operations to use fracking fluid measuring more than 1,000m3 per fracking stage or 10,000m3 in total. It also states that the rocks being fracked are shale or strata encased in shale and the operation is for searching or boring for petroleum.

Operations that meet these criteria have been outlawed by the moratorium on fracking in England since 2019.

Operations in other strata or using lower volumes are usually not affected by the moratorium. Opponents of onshore oil and gas have argued that this is a legal loophole that could be exploited by onshore oil and gas companies.

The issue made headlines recently when Europa Oil & Gas sought permissions to carry out a proppant squeeze, a form of fracking not in shale that would use fluid volumes below the legal threshold.

Europa’s plans at Burniston in North Yorkshire are not excluded by the moratorium.

But the proposals are caught by the North Yorkshire minerals plan, which sets planning policy for onshore oil and gas developments.

The North Yorkshire plan uses a different definition from the Petroleum Act, based on fracturing rocks by injecting pressurized liquid to generate or widen small fractures, regardless of the volume of fluid.

At Burniston, Europa has said it plans to carry out up to four fracturing stages in sandstone using 300-500m3 of fluid per stage. These volumes are higher than those actually used (though not planned) by Cuadrilla when it fracked for shale gas at its Preston New Road PNR2 well near Blackpool in 2019. Cuadrilla’s operations caused multiple earthquakes, including the most powerful induced by fracking in the UK.

The government has repeatedly promised to ban fracking but it has not said how it defines fracking.

Mr Shanks said in his reply to Mr Amos:

“Proppant squeezes are not currently defined in legislation as high volume hydraulic fracturing for shale gas extraction. We are committed to banning fracking for good and any future decision on national planning policy will take into account all volumes of hydraulic fracturing.”

Mr Amos also asked the energy department about how it planned to ban new onshore oil and gas extraction.

Mr Shanks said the government would not issue new licences but would “manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan”.

In some cases, this could be 20 years or more.

The minister also said the government would respond “in due course” to a consultation on proposed legislation to end new onshore oil and gas licensing in England.

Last week, Pippa Heyling, also Lib Dem, criticised the support for fracking by Reform UK:

“Reform UK wants to frack stupid frack!! Ripping up and polluting our countryside. And they want to send our young people back down the pits!!

“They have no positive vision for the jobs of the future. No concern for our planet. Only a return to the dirty, dangerous jobs of the past.”