Government officials refunded fracking companies to the tune of £640,000 in pre-paid licence fees after ministers banned shale gas exploration in England, documents reveal.
Despite being under no legal obligation to issue a refund, the Government decided to pay companies back money they had already spent obtaining licenses to frack.
Fracking involves pumping liquid underground at high pressure to force apart shale rock, which releases natural gas.
Ministers imposed an effective moratorium on the practice in 2019 after pilot projects in Lancashire triggered minor earthquakes. The Government said the earthquakes had an “unacceptable” effect on local communities.
When the ban was announced fracking firms had already paid licensing fees to operate in England.
Officials from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) chose to grant a request to refund these fees for the period between April 2019 and March 2021, with the approval of Treasury colleagues, the New Scientist has revealed.
Information obtained under Freedom of Information laws reveal a total of £640,000 was voluntarily paid back to fracking companies by the Government.
The FOI was requested by the website Drill or Drop?, which reports on the UK fracking industry.
“Licensees can apply for a rental waiver to the NSTA,” a spokesperson for the NSTA said.
“The NSTA considers these requests and not all waivers are granted. Any successful requests require HM Treasury confirmation.”
and the Nanas against fracking are holding a silent protest at the gates of the Preston New Road fracking site. Their protest was interrupted and subsequently merged as members of Reclaim The Power placed a 6-man lockdown in front of the gates. In 2013, the fracking industry started casting a shadow over Great Britain; as a result, a patchwork of anarchist groups has risen from the outskirts of society to protect the land and water. In Northwestern England, they are organised in an effort to prevent the installation of the first commercial fracking operation of the country in Preston New Road, Blackpool. Caught between the violence of security workers and police repression, the anti-fracking protestors are struggling to maintain a pacifist philosophy eroded by daily protests and confrontations. Meanwhile, perched in a lush Surrey forest, the Leith Hill fortress is watching over an other prospective site. Activists set up camp there late October 2016 to prevent an exploratory drilling by Europa Oil & Gas Company. They've been on high alert ever since, weathering a legal injunction and an eviction, but they're now starting to show signs of fatigue and isolation. (Photo by Alban Grosdidier/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)" />
The FoI document does not detail which fracking companies received the money, but Cuadrilla, INEOS and iGas were three of the biggest license holders for onshore fracking in Britain. i has contacted them for a response.
The news comes as the government faces pressure from Conservative MPs to revive the fracking industry amid an energy crisis and a drive for the UK to produce more of its own energy.
Cuadrilla was due to permanently seal its last two wells near Blackpool by June 30. But the NSTA has indicated it will consider granting a one-year reprieve if Cuadrilla applies for one.
Greenpeace said the fracking industry had failed despite the UK government’s past “all out” support for exploiting shale gas, and now is not the time to revive the sector.
“The climate crisis and energy security concerns mean accelerating what is clean, cheap and deliverable not indulging fantasies of hydrocarbon abundance stemming from a bygone era,” said the charity’s chief scientist Doug Parr.
