Timeline: shale gas in the UK

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 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: MPs vote against amendments to the Infrastructure Bill proposing tougher regulations and a moratorium on fracking.

• 28: Lancashire County Council defer decision on Cuadrilla fracking application.

• 28: Scottish government announces moratorium on fracking planning permissions.

February

• 6: Cuadrilla receives environmental permits for fracking at Roseacre Wood, Lancashire.

• 9: House of Lords revises amendment to the Infrastructure Bill to remove fracking regulations. . The revised amendment then passed in parliament on 12 February.

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

March

• 5: INEOS acquire IGas North-West shale gas assets to become 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 the drilling of a temporary borehole at Afan Valley for shale gas exploration, the first application of its type 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 call on 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.

April

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

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

May

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

• 8: IGas chief executive Andrew Austin resigns.

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

2016

January

• 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.

• 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 plan from July 2015, signed by three cabinet ministers, 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.

February

• 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’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 Lancashire County Council 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 & 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.

• 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: In a widely condemned move, the new Conservative government headed by Theresa May abolishes the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

August

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

• 7: The Prime Minister proposes compensating people affected by fracking through direct payments.