The end of fracking is madness that will harm Britain
“I’ll be open with you: oil and gas is part of the future mix for decades to come.” These are not my words, but those of our Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, speaking in February 2025. The engine-room of Britain’s net zero transition, the Climate Change Committee, has made the same point on multiple occasions.
Yet although the UK is sitting on untapped natural gas resources that could transform its economy and reduce emissions, just last month the energy price cap was increased up by Ofgem, confirming that British consumers will now be paying an additional £111 a year to keep themselves warm.
From 2000 to 2023, the amount of energy produced domestically in the United Kingdom decreased by 65pc and we currently spend more money per annum importing energy than we do on either education or defence. Current forecasts estimate that dependency on gas imports could reach 80pc by the 2030s.
Carpeting the countryside with wind turbines and solar panels will not eliminate our need for natural gas as an energy source. This may not be a comfortable fact for some in government to grapple with. But rather than burying their heads in the sand, or trotting out “green energy superpower” cliches, the electorate would be better served by our politicians firstly recognising and secondly addressing this, sooner rather than later.
Sadly, the current Government would appear to be on a mission to prevent further exploration for North Sea gas and to remove the possibility of shale gas extraction in Britain “for good”.
Cuadrilla is currently preparing to fill the country’s only viable shale gas wells with concrete. The process will begin on Monday. Our ability to further evaluate a potentially secure, cheap and greener source of gas is drifting out of reach at the very moment we could need it most.
Right now, our gas supply is neither secure, cheap nor green. Almost two thirds of our gas is imported. Our main supplier, Norway, is talking about limiting energy exports. The International Energy Agency is telling us that the global gas balance is “fragile” and companies are warning that domestic gas storage levels are “worryingly low”. We are being advised, by big bright flashing red lights, that things could get even worse.
It is inevitable that politicians will eventually have to set aside misguided ideology and start recognising the reality of the situation. But in the meantime, it is ordinary households across the UK that will bear the brunt of any delay.
We might not have even seen the worst of it with last week’s price rise. The International Energy Agency has warned that European gas prices could go up by nearly a third this year. Almost 90pc of us heat our homes with gas in this country. When prices go up, we are powerless. Inefficient and expensive heat pumps are not the answer, and consumers have effectively told the Government so.
We cannot even console ourselves, as we lose feeling in our freezing toes, that we are at least helping to make the world a greener place. The carbon emissions associated with importing two thirds of our gas, particularly by sea as liquefied natural gas, dwarf the levels we would see with a strong domestic supply.
I have no doubt that politicians will eventually seek to make use of the vast shale gas resources that this country has at its disposal. The Bowland shale formation and the Gainsborough trough have enough gas to meet our own needs for decades to come. They are the envy of Europe – which, even today, despite Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, remains reliant on Russian imports of gas.
In the face of such aggression, this reliance on Russian gas is Europe’s Achilles’ heel, and places the impetus on our government to change tact. Sir Keir has shown a real commitment to lead a “coalition of the willing” in order to bring peace back to our continent, but the UK can do much more, by using our vast resources to help end European energy dependence on Putin.
The shale gas wells are being decommissioned but the natural gas underneath remains available. With sensible policies and politicians its time will come.
Francis Egan is chief executive of Cuadrilla Resources
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