Prohibition of hydraulic fracturing in Scotland might not be policy, after all.
Taken to court over the issue by Ineos Shale, holder of two exploration licenses between Glasgow and Edinburgh, the government is hedging its position (OGJ Online, Jan. 20, 2018).
“The concept of an effective ban is a gloss,” government attorney James Mure said during the first day of judicial review, according to The Scotsman. “It is the language of a press statement.”
In October, Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse told the Scottish Parliament hydraulic fracturing “cannot and will not take place in Scotland (OGJ Online, Oct. 3, 2017).”
He was announcing a decision to extend indefinitely a moratorium in place since 2015.
Parliament endorsed the decision in a 91-28 vote later that month.
Tom Pickering, Ineos Shale operations director, said Mure’s statement in court represented “a staggering U-turn on the policy direction” announced last October.
He said it casts “further uncertainty and ambiguity across the policy framework for onshore unconventional oil and gas development in Scotland.”