23rd February 2014 We asked Cuadrilla questions about its planning application to flow test the oil exploration well at Balcombe and for a response to calls for it to contribute to the cost of policing the summer protests. Here are the unedited responses. Question: What is ‘acid etching’ […]
21st February 2014 The UK’s “number one shale gas conference” has moved from Manchester to Birmingham. Delegates to Shale UK received an email today telling them the original venue, Manchester Central, could no longer accommodate the event because it had another large conference taking place simultaneously. It also […]
21st February 2014 The green movement’s opposition to shale gas on climate change grounds came under attack on Wednesday (February 19th) from both the Government and the hydrocarbon industry. The Chancellor, George Osborne, and Francis Egan, the chief executive of Cuadrilla, both argued that shale gas would help […]
21st February 2014 Transcripts of last week’s parliamentary questions on: On-the-ground inspections of drilling rigs by the Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive Cost to the country of tax breaks for shale gas companies Cost of policing anti fracking protests Financial and economic benefits of fracking Liabilities […]
21st February 2014 The trial resumes on Monday (February 24th) of five anti fracking protesters who used locks and superglue to prevent access to Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site at Balcombe. Natalie Hynde (daughter of rock musicians Chrissie Hynde and Ray Davies), Simon Medhurst and Nichola Sanger deny besetting […]
20th February 2014 According to a survey by Bloomberg News, the only company that plans to frack at least one well in the UK this year is IGas Energy Plc. The company has faced protests for the past three months from anti fracking campaigners camped outside its exploratory drilling […]
19/2/14 Seven people were arrested for causing harassment, alarm or distress at the Balcombe anti-fracking protests last summer – but none were convicted. Freedom of Information requests revealed that police used Sections 4a and 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 as the grounds for arrests outside Cuadrilla’s […]
31/1/14 The Crown Prosecution Service reveals that 35 charges arising from the Balcombe anti-fracking protests have been dropped before reaching trial. More
18/2/14 The South Downs National Park Authority is to tell the government that no more oil or gas licences should be sold in protected landscapes. The comment will be part of the authority’s response to a government consultation on the next round of Petroleum Development and Exploration Licences […]
13/2/14 A climate change campaigner locked himself to the top of a water tanker leaving Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site at Balcombe to persuade the media that the anti-fracking protests were not petering out. 66-year old Robert Basto, who has a PhD in physics, told Brighton Magistrates Court that […]
DRILL OR DROP? 