The UK government announced yesterday that it would speed up application process for shale gas extraction to support the development of the industry.
One of the main reasons for the push is that since Britain's North Sea output is declining, the UK is looking into the possibility of extracting natural shale gas through fracking.
Lynn Calder, commercial director of INEOS shale, said: “The UK potentially has enough home-grown gas to be self-sufficient for years to come. But labyrinthine planning rules make it next-to-impossible to access the energy right beneath our feet.”
“As a result, the UK is becoming ever more dependent on Russian and Middle Eastern gas, with British money funding foreign powers at the rate of £500m a month instead of generating jobs and tax revenues in this country,” she said.
Read more: BP to develop the second phase of its giant fracking project in Oman
The UK has been cautious in the past of developing an opinion on fracking. In the US, where fracking is a common mode of natural gas extraction, it takes around four weeks to receive permission to drill a test well, whereas in the UK it can take up to three years.
Calder continued: "We have been discussing these issues with the government, and we appreciate they have taken our concerns seriously and moved quickly to begin to address the issues preventing the UK accessing its own gas. The governments announcement today that they will review the planning processes regarding shale is a step in the right direction and there is much more that needs to be done."
Read more: Scottish government accused of 'Alice in Wonderland' politics over fracking
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