Hydraulic fracturing could return to the UK if companies manage to reduce earthquakes

The chief executive of Britain’s Oil and Gas Authority said hydraulic fracturing could be making a comeback in the UK, as Europe faces an energy crisis amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Andy Samuel said at least one company is looking to resume fracking with new technologies that reduce the chances of earthquakes caused by the process.

His comments came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces mounting pressure to reverse the government’s opposition to trade fracking to allow the UK to tap its shale gas reserves and reduce the country’s dependence on imports.

While a 2019 ban on existing fracking methods means sites will be filled with concrete, MPs want the authority to reverse an order to fill two more fracking wells in Lancashire, UK, next week – because they could boost Britain’s energy security.

Mr. Samuel noted that the authority “left the door open to industry”, with the technology likely to return in the coming years despite communities’ concerns about the harm the extraction method could cause.

“One of the operators wants … to advance the science, to try to understand if there is a way that can be done without going beyond the boundaries of seismic events,” Samuel told The Telegraph.

The controversial hydraulic fracturing process involves pumping liquid deep into the earth under high pressure to break up shale and release gas or oil trapped within.

A worker at a Quadrilla crushing site in Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, Lancashire. Getty Images

A ban on hydraulic fracturing was imposed in November 2019 after it caused two minor earthquakes in Lancashire, with fierce confrontations between shale gas companies and communities who said the operation was dangerous.

The government has not ruled out the possibility of using hydraulic fracturing in the future as long as tremors can be minimized.

Samuel said the proposed new techniques could avoid tremors greater than 0.5 on the Richter scale, the current maximum.

However, the government insisted that there are currently no plans to lift the fracking moratorium and that any projects could take at least 10 years.

Mr. Samuel said the process was “not an easy-to-understand geology”.

“From what we’ve seen in the geology and the strip to cross, it’s going to be way off,” he said.

MPs wondered why the UK’s limit on the Richter scale for earthquakes is 0.5, while the US has a limit four times higher.

Meanwhile, a study by the authority found that the earthquakes caused “minor non-structural” damage to buildings near the fracking site.

32 Conservative MPs and 4 of their peers have written to the prime minister demanding that Quadrilla’s oil and gas authority change orders to shut down two shale gas wells in Lancashire as part of moves away from hydraulic fracturing. ?

Lancashire said no to fracking. Keep the gas in the ground.

– Cat Smith MP (@CatSmithMP) March 6, 2022

Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield, called the fracking ban “complete insanity” in light of the Ukraine war.

“At a time when there is increasing insecurity about fuel supplies, we must use the huge shale gas resources under our feet,” he said.

Anderson said hydraulic fracturing could lead to lower fuel prices in the UK, which is already facing a cost-of-living crisis with soaring energy bills.

From April, the maximum price for energy – the maximum that suppliers can charge consumers in a year – will double to nearly £2,000 ($2,645) for the average household.

But home energy bills could rise further throughout the year because prices are now more than 20 times higher than they were two years ago, rising on Monday from what were already their highest levels last week.

The price of a gas thermometer, the measure commonly used, rose to about 800p during the morning. It was at about 460p on Friday.

Last week, when the gas was trading at much lower levels than it was on Monday, experts expected the maximum price to rise by around £1,000 to more than £2,900 in October when it is changed next.

However, the rally may come sooner if industry regulator Ofgem decides that the market cannot handle the pressure.

Although Britain imports less than 5 percent of its gas from Russia, Europe is more exposed – receiving about 40 percent of the country.

However, Business Minister Kwasi Karting said at the weekend that a return to hydraulic fracturing would not solve the energy crisis.

“The amount of shale gas from hundreds of wells scattered in rural England will not be enough to bring down the European price anytime soon,” he said. “And … private companies will not sell the shale gas they produce to UK consumers at below market price.”

The UK is in no way dependent on Russian gas supplies.

Our largest single source of gas is from the UK continental shelf and the vast majority of imports come from reliable suppliers such as Norway.

Fact-check: https://t.co/qyBeZLAPWR pic.twitter.com/kG7OjKoz7U

– Department of BEIS (beisgovuk) March 7, 2022

Updated: March 07, 2022, 12:16 pm

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