Scottish Govt’s failure to back shale gas extraction technique compels Ineos to move fracking operation to England

06-Jun-16

Ineos has moved its fracking operation from Scotland to England as the Scottish Government has failed to back the gas extraction technique. The UK government has adopted a pro-fracking stance and at the end of lasst month, North Yorkshire County Council approved an application by Third Energy to frack a well near the village of Kirby Misperton in Ryedale. The Scottish administration has imposed a moratorium on fracking in Scotland coupled with the energy minister Paul Wheelhouse saying that he was “deeply sceptical” of proposals to exploit shale gas reserves beneath the ground. Ineos director of corporate affairs, Tom Crotty, said, “We have effectively redeployed our resources south of the Border now and we are putting all our efforts in England. We are still in the moratorium [in Scotland] and we have been fairly clear with the government that the delay isn’t helpful.” According to Crotty, Ineos’s team of geologists and petrochemical engineers, who are charged with seeking potential fracking sites, are now “100% deployed in England”.