Murphy proposes banning oil and gas exploration on land

Today in Parliament the Minister of Economy Conor Murphy announced that he will present a proposal to stop the exploration and production of oil and gas on land in the north.

Minister Murphy said:

As climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time, one of the main objectives of my Economic Vision is to reduce carbon emissions. To meet our net zero targets, a priority will be to shift away from oil to renewables. I intend to stop all forms of onshore oil exploration and production, including fracking. This will not only help us transition from fossil fuels to renewables, but also towards a greener economy and more sustainable lifestyle.

The Department of the Economy currently has the power to grant licenses to companies to search for and extract oil and gas on land. My department recently consulted on the oil licensing system. Consultations opened on 15 January and closed on 12 April. The vast majority of respondents to the consultation supported moving away from fossil fuels.”

Highlighting current bans in other jurisdictions, the minister continued:

The south of Ireland and Wales have recently banned all onshore oil activity, and Scotland has taken action on hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking. Now is the time for us to act.

I will soon be asking my executive colleagues to pass a ban and, if granted, I will introduce legislation in the House to ban onshore oil licensing. This will require changes to the Petroleum (Production) (Northern Ireland) Act 1964 and other regulations.”

The minister concluded:

The time involved in drafting the legislation and allowing for committee consideration means that the legislation will be introduced in 2025. In the meantime, my department will not be accepting or processing onshore oil licensing applications.

Notes to editors:

1. The Department of the Economy has the power to grant licenses to explore for, obtain and receive petroleum on land in Northern Ireland. This power was granted by the Petroleum (Production) (Northern Ireland) Act 1964 and has been supplemented by further legislation since then.

2. There are currently no active petroleum licenses in Northern Ireland with the last active license surrendered in 2020.

3. There was a public consultation on the licensing of oil on land from January 15 to April 12, 2024.

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