Timeline: shale gas in the UK

This article is part of the Spinwatch Fracking Portal and project

2014

October

• Task Force on Shale Gas set up, funded by Cuadrilla, Centrica and Total among others. Headed by Lord Chris Smith, former head of the Environment Agency. Secretariat run by giant PR and lobbying firm Edelman UK.

2015

January

• 21: Lancashire County Council (LCC) planners recommend refusal of Cuadrilla's fracking application.

• 26: The Environmental Audit Committee says fracking is inconsistent with the UK’s efforts on climate change.

• 26: George Osborne requests cabinet ministers intervene in local planning to fast track fracking as a “personal priority”.

• 26: MPs vote against amendments to the Infrastructure Bill proposing tougher regulations and a moratorium on fracking, but agree on Labour proposals for 13 new conditions to be met before shale gas extraction can take place.

• 28: LCC defers decision on Cuadrilla fracking application.

• 28: The Scottish government announces a moratorium on fracking planning permissions. The announcement was met with celebration by anti-fracking campaigners.

February

• 6: Cuadrilla receives permits for fracking at Roseacre Wood from the Environment Agency, ignoring the recommendation against approval by Lancashire County Council (LCC) planning committee.

• 9: House of Lords revises amendment to the Infrastructure Bill to remove Labour's proposed pre-conditions on fracking exploration. . The revised amendment then passed in parliament on 12 February.

• 25: LCC’s development control committee refuse permission to Cuadrilla for shale gas testing at Singleton in the Fylde.

March

• 5: INEOS buys IGas' north-west shale gas assets, and becomes third UK’s third biggest shale gas licence holder.

• 12: Celtique Energie will not appeal against refusal of planning permission in West Sussex.

• 17: Neath Port Talbot council permit UK Methane Ltd to drill an exploratory borehole for coal bed methane and shale gas at the Afan Valley beauty spot, the first such application to be approved in Wales.

• 18: Dart Energy challenge plans for a public inquiry into its fracking application at Dudleston Heath, near Ellesmere.

• 26: The government calls upon local councils to not 'gold-plate' human rights law when evicting protest camps.

• 28: The government rejects the need for a moratorium on fracking to not exceed the UK’s carbon budget, disregarding the advice of the Environmental Audit Committee.

April

• 23: Over a quarter of general election candidates sign frack-free pledge.

• 28: UK Oil and Gas Investments applies for an extension to its drilling licence at Horse Hill Well, Surrey.

May

Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

• 5: Cuadrilla drills in Lancashire are found to be in breach of planning conditions.

• 8: IGas chief executive Andrew Austin resigns following the official completion of the company's landmark acquisition of Dart Energy, announced in late 2014.

• 11: Following the Conservative Party’s general election victory on 8 May, prime minister David Cameron appoints Amber Rudd as energy and climate change secretary, Liz Truss as secretary for environment, food and rural affairs and Greg Clark as communities and local government secretary.

• 22: Third Energy submit application to frack near Kirby Misperton in Ryedale, North Yorkshire.

June

• 4: East Yorkshire council approves Rathlin Energy’s application for two exploratory wells at West Newton.

• 8:One of the UK's largest trade unions, the GMB, comes out in support of fracking.

• 11: The government announces plans to standardise the environmental requirements fracking companies must meet to explore for shale gas. The move is met with hostility by anti-fracking campaigners, who say the proposals will lessen the importance of local advisers and relax environmental scrutiny in the early stages of shale gas developments.

• 25: In a breakthrough decision, Lancashire County Council (LCC) rejects Cuadrilla's fracking application at Roseacre Wood.

• 29: LCC rejects Cuadrilla planning application to explore for shale gas at Preston New Road.

July

• 1: After much delay, the government releases the full report on the impact of fracking on rural economies. The government previously resisted releasing the report saying it was incomplete and against the public interest, but was forced to publish it after an appeal to the Information Commissioner. The report warns of significant risks to human health, house prices, tourism and farming.

• 16: The Task Force on Shale Gas calls for for greater safety and transparency measures on fracking, as well as 'full disclosure' of all chemicals to be used by the industry, and independent monitoring of the fracking process.

• 23: The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, an international opinion tribunal, grants trial hearing on how fracking breaches human rights.

August

• 8: Europa wins an appeal against Surrey County Council to carry out exploratory drilling in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Leith Hill.

• 13: In a significant policy intervention, the government announces new “fast-track” measures to remove the decision making power of local authorities on fracking planning applications.

• 18: The government releases details mapping where new licences to explore for oil and gas have been awarded across England, 59 of which fall in wildlife protection sites.

• 19: The government reveals proposals that drilling of seismic monitoring boreholes be exempt from application for planning permission.

September

• 16: The Task Force on Shale Gas advocates fracking as an alternative to coal while the UK transitions to renewables, but green campaigners insist pursuing fracking will increase the UK's net fossil fuel use.

• 16: The local government secretary Greg Clark announces plans for government to commandeer decision-making power on shale gas appeals from “underperforming” local councils.

• 16: The RSPB warns nearly 300 protected wildlife areas will be harmed across England from new fracking licences.

• 28: Northern Ireland’s environment minister Mark H Durkan disavows fracking, but does not impose a moratorium or permanent ban.

October

• 9: Ryedale District Council vote for a 5 year moratorium on fracking, although the final determination of ongoing fracking applications will be made by North Yorkshire County Council.

• 22: A High Court judge granted a judicial review of the decision by Lancashire County Council to approve Cuadrilla’s seismic monitoring scheme at Roseacre Wood.

November

• 4: The government introduces a fracking planning licence condition which bans any exploration in protected wildlife areas or designated landscapes.

• 17: At least 16 business leaders included in a letter co-ordinated by the North West Energy Task Force urging Lancashire County Council (LCC) to approve Cuadrilla’s planning applications insist their signatures were used without consent and demand they be removed.

• 25: The government cancels a £1 billion competition for carbon capture and storage technology, days ahead of a UN climate summit in Paris, thereby breaking a Conservative manifesto pledge. On 15 December, the Task Force on Shale Gas criticised the move for damaging the long term viability of shale gas production.

• 26: In a controversial move, the task of determining Cuadrilla’s appeals against the refusal of planning permission for fracking at two sites in Lancashire is passed to secretary of state for communities and local government Greg Clark. The move is hotly contested by LCC.

December

• 16: In a controversial vote, MPs approve the government’s Draft Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations, allowing fracking under national parks.

• 17: The Oil and Gas Authority awards 93 new fracking licences, 21 of which were allocated to INEOS.

2016

January

• 4: Lancashire County Council (LCC) request that the government reverse their decision to make Greg Clark have the final say in determining planning applications on fracking. On January 28, the government rejects this request.

• 8: Senior INEOS executive, Tom Pickering says his company is focusing efforts in shale gas exploration away from Scotland, towards Cheshire and other areas of England.

• 12: Bailiffs evict an anti-fracking protest camp at the IGas Duttons Lane site near Chester. More than 175 officers from four police forces were involved, and nine arrests.

• 18: MP for Thirsk and Malton, Kevin Hollinrake, resigns as vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas, following pressure from his constituents. He is replaced on February 5 by David Mowat, Conservative MP for Warrington South. At the same time, Kevin Hollinrake also announces he is setting up a new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Shale Gas Regulation and Planning, to which he will be chairman.

• 19: Nottinghamshire County Council approves IGas’s application for up to 12 groundwater monitoring boreholes at a proposed shale gas site to the north-east of Misson in Bassetlaw, despite 314 public objections against it.

• 31: A leaked government letter from July 2015, signed by energy secretary Amber Rudd , local government secretary Greg Clark, and environment secretary Liz Truss, reveals proposals to take decisions for fracking wells away from local councils were tabled shortly after Lancashire County Council refused permission to Cuadrilla to frack wells in the Fylde. Campaigners say the letter shows the government conspiring with fracking companies to take power away from local councils and communities.

February

Fracking protesters gathered outside the public hearing

• 5: IGas abandons plans to drill for coalbed methane at Upton near Chester, where a protest camp was previously evicted at a cost of £200,000 to Cheshire Police. On 8 February the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire demands IGas pay these costs back. In March, IGas says that it will not pay.

• 9: High-profile inquiry begins on the planning appeals by Cuadrilla against Lancashire County Council (LCC)’s refusal of its applications to drill up to eight fracking wells, and seismic monitoring plans, across sites at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood.

• 23: The Planning Inspectorate grants permission to Cuadrilla for site restoration and monitoring at the Grange Hill exploration site near Singleton in Lancashire, despite LCC refusing permission in May 2015.

March

• 15: Ryedale District Council votes against Third Energy fracking near the village of Kirby Misperton, and recommends North Yorkshire County Council opposes fracking at the existing KM8 well.

• 16: Closing day of the public inquiry into Cuadrilla's appeal against Lancashire County Council to drill up to eight fracking wells and seismic monitoring plans, across sites at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood.

• 23: Coastal Oil and Gas appeals its refused application for an exploratory test well at Hendre Farm, Llanharan.

• 26: Welsh natural resources minister Carl Sargeant extends Wales' moratorium on unconventional gas and oil developments to underground coal gasification.

• 30: Surrey Council approves extending IGas oil and gas production sites near Bletchingley Central.

April

• 6: Regulations on fracking well depths come into force.

• 11: Third Energy is granted environmental permit for the KM8 shale gas well at Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire.

• 27: The Energy and Climate Change Select Committee warns the UK will miss its 2030 carbon reduction targets without regulating gas-fired power stations.

• 28: Public support for fracking in the UK falls to an all-time low according to a government poll. Most notably, just 19 per cent of people backed fracking while support for renewables surged to 81 per cent in the Department of Energy and Climate Change's long running public attitude tracker poll.

May

• 5: INEOS sets out summer timetable for seismic surveying and monitoring across England.

• 18: Francis Egan, the head of Cuadrilla, urges government to fight councils on planning application delays.

• 23: In a landmark decision, North Yorkshire County Council approve Third Energy's application to explore for shale at Kirby Misperton in Ryedale, despite overwhelming local opposition.

• 27: UK Oil and Gas Investments will invest £4 million in exploratory fracking in the Weald Basin, Southern England.

June

• 1: The Scottish Parliament votes for a ban on fracking.

• 6: Northern Ireland legislates for mandatory planning applications for unconventional oil and gas exploration sites.

• 13: UK Oil and Gas Investments pays Celtique Energie and Magellan £3.5 million for an exploration licence in West Sussex .

July

• 7: The Committee on Climate Change calls for stronger regulations on shale gas development so that the UK does not exceed its carbon budget.

• 8: IGas's application for an exploration well at Tinker Lane in Bassetlaw, north Nottinghamshire, is rejected by local planning committee.

• 13: Surrey County Council approves IGas plans to convert a shale gas exploration site near Guildford to gas production.

• 14: Following the UK’s referendum vote to leave the EU on 24 June, the resignation of David Cameron, and Theresa May’s victory in a Conservative Party leadership contest and subsequent assumption as the new prime minister on 13 July, Andrea Leadsom is appointed environment secretary, Sajid Javid becomes communities and local government secretary, and Greg Clark is appointed secretary for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS). In a widely condemned move, Theresa May abolishes the department of energy and climate change. The previous brief of the department for energy and climate change integrates into BEIS.

• 19: Director of INEOS Tom Crotty announces plans to apply for over 30 fracking planning applications within the next 6 months, with the expectation of extracting gas in about 18 months.

August

• 2: Rathlin Energy receive environmental permit to frack at West Newton, East Yorkshire.

• 7: New UK prime minister Theresa May proposes compensating people affected by fracking with cash payments. Green campaigners accuse the PM of attempting to bribe individual residents to pass fracking applications.

September

• 6: In a House of Lords hearing, minister of state at the department for business, energy and industrial strategy Baroness Neville-Rolfe refuses to disclose what level of carbon emissions from fracking wells is considered acceptable by the government.

• 7: At a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Shale Gas Regulation and Planning, Tom Pickering of INEOS, David Robbotom of Third Energy and John Blaymires of IGas each refuse to offer a an estimate on the upper limit number of fracking sites in exploration licence blocks.

• 13: At a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas, veteran US shale geologist and associate of INEOS warns that the Bowland Basin in Lancashire, where Cuadrilla has applied to frack, does not offer promising gas production prospects due to its complex basin structure.

• 14: South Western Energy announces it will not pursue four of the its awarded licences to explore for shale gas in the Forest of Dean and Wiltshire.