Reporting on the unconventional oil and gas industry and its use of hydraulic fracturing
When the energy company SSE put prices up last week by an average of 8.2%, it blamed, among other things, government-imposed green levies collected through gas and electricity bills. Three days later, the company told the FT that government green energy policies would put up bills by £26 […]
Bloomberg reports that Britain’s water companies plan to discount the cost of water to fracking companies. Southern Water says its rate for the biggest customers is 25% less than for homes and this would apply to shale drillers, though none have applied. United Utilities will also offer lower […]
The government was urged today (8/10/13) to speed up exploratory drilling of shale gas in the UK . Professor Alan Riley, of City Law School, told the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee no one was certain how much shale gas was technically and commercially recoverable in Britain, or […]
The Guardian Diary reports today (8/10/13) it has confirmed, through a Freedom of Information request, that Energy Minister Michael Fallon met Cuadrilla on 24 June 2013, a month before the company got the go-ahead to drill at Balcombe. The Department for Energy and Climate Change could not confirm […]
A majority of people attending a public debate on fracking in Lewes, Sussex, last night (October 7th 2013) opposed the technique for extracting gas or oil. A show of hands at the beginning and end of the event suggested a small number of people were undecided about fracking, […]
The Blackpool Gazette reports Cuadrilla has pulled out of one of its potential fracking sites on the Lancashire coast. The company says it will not seek consent to frack for gas at Anna’s Road in Westby because of “technical constraints related to wintering birds”. Drilling was restricted to a […]
Evidence submitted by Bloomberg New Energy Finance to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee (2/10/2013) suggests exploitation of shale in the UK could provide a new source of natural gas but it will not be “a panacea for bringing down gas and electricity bills.” Research by the […]
Update to Timeline – September 2013 30/9/13 Anti-fracking protestors begin to leave the camp outside Cuadrilla’s site at Balcombe. The Guardian reports that tents, banners and makeshift structures are being cleared from verges. Cuadrilla closed the exploratory well before its planning permission expired on Saturday September 28th. The […]
Update to Timeline – September 2013 26/9/13 Farewell to Cuadrilla Friends of the Earth Brighton announces a farewell gathering outside the Cuadrilla site at Balcombe at 11am on Saturday 28th September. The company has until Saturday, under the terms of its planning permission, to leave the site. 25/9/13 Rig […]
Update to Timeline – September 2013 24/9/13 Police help Cuadrilla breach planning permission Sussex Police tells West Sussex County Council that lorries entering and leaving the Cuadrilla site at Balcombe this week will use different routes. This would be a breach of the company’s planning permission. In a […]
DRILL OR DROP? 