Fracking UK: Britain’s plans for shale gas

The Parliamentary Information Office of the Parliamentary Yearbook examines the recent publication of two government reports which outline the future of shale gas production and fracking in the UK. 

The government has recently published two reports relating to the future of shale gas production and fracking in the UK:  the ‘Strategic Environmental Assessment’ report and the ‘Regulatory Roadmap’.

Strategic Environmental Assessment became a statutory requirement following the adoption of European Union Directive 2001/42/EC.  Under this legislation, an assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment is required.  The objective is to provide “a high level of protection of the environment and to contribute to the integration of environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans and programmes with a view to contributing to sustainable development”.

A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) report has recently been produced by the engineering giant AMEC on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) with respect to the UK’s plans for further onshore oil and gas licensing.  Work on the SEA was suspended following two seismic events in Lancashire in 2011 caused by hydraulic fracturing for shale gas at Preese Hall near Blackpool, pending an investigation.  As part of the announcement by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change ending the suspension, it was confirmed that work on the SEA would recommence.

The finished report, intended for consultation, outlines the “potential economic and environmental effects of further oil and gas activity in Great Britain, including shale oil and gas production, comparing a ‘low activity’ and ‘high activity’ scenario”. The assessment has been conducted in preparation for the next round of licenses being made available for onshore oil and gas exploration and production.

The report highlights implications of the likely effects of shale and oil gas extraction across several different areas.  These include, for example: employment, gas production, climate change, wastewater treatment and economic benefits for local communities. Some of the main effects described in the report are listed below:

Employment:  under a high activity scenario the UK oil and gas industry could create 16,000-32,000 new full time equivalent positions.

Hydrocarbon reserves:  under the high activity scenario a total of 0.12 to 0.24 trillion cubic metres of gas could be generated per annum; more than twice the gas consumed in the UK per annum.

Climate change:  under the high activity scenario greenhouse gas emissions during exploration could be up to 0.96 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (M tC0₂eq) per annum and between 0.71 - 1.42 M tC0₂eq per annum.  This is the equivalent of around 15% of the total 9.3 M tC0₂eq emissions from the exploration, production and transport of oil and gas in the UK during 2011.

Wastewater: ‘flowback’ - the fluid injected into shale rock during fracking which returns to the surface and requires treatment - could range from 3,000 m³ to 18,750 m³ per well. Up to 108 million m³ of wastewater would require treatment under a high activity scenario.

Community economic contributions (benefit schemes): shale gas exploration could provide a contribution of £100,000 per hydraulically fractured site as an initial benefit to the local community.  This is in accordance with commitments from the United Kingdom Onshore Operators’ Group (2013) Community Engagement Charter. During the production phase further payments of £2.4 to £4.8 million per site could be generated, reflecting a 1% contribution from revenue over the lifetime of each well.

Vehicle movements: an estimated 14-51 vehicle movements to a site per day are predicted during exploration and site preparation, over a 32-145 week period.  This is likely to have adverse implications for traffic congestion, noise or air quality depending on pre-existing conditions. During exploration and site preparation a “more sustained and locally significant effect” may be expected on communities adjacent to development sites and the routes to sites.

In conjunction with the SEA report the government also published the “Regulatory Roadmap” for shale gas.  This describes “the series of permits and permissions developers need to obtain prior to drilling for onshore oil and gas”, with a view to make the permitting process more transparent both for potential investors and local communities.

A consultation period to consider the findings of the SEA and its implications for shale and gas production in the UK runs until March.  The government is to consider all responses to the SEA prior to making any decision on further onshore licensing.

DECC’s SEA report and Regulatory Roadmap are available for download.

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