When does fracking sidle back onto the UK agenda?

It’s kinda noteworthy that, the ruckus over the Cambo field notwithstanding, several more North Sea licences are under consideration.   And the Climate Change Committee (under silly “Lord Deben”) has correctly opined that, while they’d prefer new licences not be granted, it’s a purely politrical matter having nothing to do with objective reckoning of whether it would increase global CO2 emissions (which it wouldn’t).  Ah, COP26 seems so long ago now …

Of course the greenie-left is trying to get its retaliation in first, having spotted (again, correctly) what they take to be a great argument, namely that increased UK production would have no impact on the world price of oil or gas – so we wouldn’t pay any less for our domestic energy.  AND – shock, horror – we might even export the stuff!  True as far as it goes – but it misses two critical details that in my book invalidate the objection entirely.  (a) they are wrong about the price impact as regards local prices which would indeed fall (by a small amount), that being the transportation cost differential between home-grown and imports; (b) the Exchequer would gain mightily from the tax they would levy on the profits arising, there being clear daylight between production costs and today’s high oil & gas prices.  All this atop the jobs created etc etc.

So:  perhaps some new offshore O&G licences first, & then see how the land lies?  Before getting back to the really interesting topic of fracking.  Incidentally, I am the last one to minimise the practical difficulties involved in fracking in the UK (we had many a thread on this several years ago); but the amounts of gas are so immense, and the value so high, we could afford to do the job really well and avoid, minimise, or handsomely compensate for any downsides.  There’s no getting away from the political price that would be paid just now …  but give it time: that shale gas ain’t going anywhere.  And Germany seems to have changed its energy policy (as well as its military policy) quite significantly in the past few days.  The Ukraine factor might yet have transformative effects here, too.

ND