Councillors in East Yorkshire will be urged this week to confirm their authority’s opposition to hydraulic fracturing in the county.

The Green Group’s Andy Walker has tabled a motion to a meeting of the full council against plans for lower-volume hydraulic fracturing at the West Newton-A oil and gas site in Holderness.

The site operator, Rathlin Energy, recently gained approval for the operation from the Environment Agency.

The company has also submitted a hydraulic fracturing plan to the EA and the industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). This document assesses the risk of the fracture inducing seismic events (earthquakes) and outlines what action would be taken if this happened.

Cllr Walker’s motion calls for an independent report on the safety and risks associated with the West Newton operation.

He also urged the council to:

• Clarify its opposition to fracking in writing to the NSTA
• Urge the Government to speed-up promised legislation to outlaw fracking

East Yorkshire Council voted overwhelmingly in 2022 against fracking in the county.

A series of moratoriums have prevented higher-volume fracking in the UK nations.

But fracking operations are permitted that use less than 1,000m3 of fluid per stage or 10,000 in total.

Rathlin Energy has said it proposes to use a total of 85m3 of fluid and 12.5 tonnes of proppant.

Cllr Walker told DrillOrDrop:

“I’m raising this because this process uses a loophole to allow hydraulic fracturing and it seems that all the risk is being shouldered by the community.

“I think it is important to formally register this Council’s opposition to these extreme procedures – and I think we’ll get good cross-party support.”

He is expected to refute arguments that any future oil or gas production from the West Newton site would reduce domestic energy bills because hydrocarbons are sold on the international market, at prices dictated by global events.

• The council meeting, on Wednesday 1 April 2026, begins at 1pm at County Hall, Beverley. It can be viewed live or at a later date on the council’s YouTube channel. Link here

Bitcoin mining plan for West Newton

Cllr Walker is also expected to raise concerns that any gas produced at West Newton-A (if the frack were successful) could be used to generate electricity onsite to produce bitcoins. (More detail here).

Last year, it was reported that Rathlin had entered an agreement with the Texas-based company, 360 Energy Inc, to design what has been called a bitcoin mining solution.

More recently, a UK company, KryptoByte, welcomed the EA’s approval of fracking at West Newton:

“A key milestone for West Newton. The Environment Agency permit variation for the WNA-2 recompletion programme is an important step toward unlocking the gas resource that underpins KryptoByte’s planned mining operations. We look forward to sharing more as the programme progresses.”

KryptoByte has also published online videos about how it planned to use UK onshore gas for bitcoin mining.

One of the videos is narrated by KryptoByte’s co-chief executive, is Sachin Oza, who is also co-chief executive of Reabold Resources, the majority owner of Rathlin Energy.

According to Mr Oza, KryptoByte would purchase gas from an onshore UK well that would otherwise be stranded. He said:

“The gas would power bitcoin mining operations that will allow Kryptobyte the ability to produce, acquire and accumulate bitcoin.

“The price at which it purchases the natural gas will be at a discount to the market price and this discount will be linked to the bitcoin price itself. This is akin to Kryptobyte being able to purchase bitcoin at a discount to the prevailing market.”

Mr Oza described this as a “compelling economic opportunity” and an “exciting journey” for investors.

He also said the operation would be “replicated at two adjacent well sites”.

• The East Yorkshire council meeting will also hear calls for increased protection for rare chalk streams in the Yorkshire Wolds. Campaigners just over the county border at Foxholes in North Yorkshire have opposed plans by Egdon Resources to drill for gas through the chalk aquifer near a chalk stream partly because of the pollution risk.