By Paul Homewood
Net Zero Watch has called on ministers to overrule the fracking regulator which is trying to terminate any prospect of shale gas developments in the UK.
With energy price rises about to hammer hard-pressed households across the UK, the Oil and Gas Authority regulator is trying to force onshore gas companies to seal up the shale gas wells they have drilled.
Net Zero Watch is warning that the government’s approach to the energy crisis remains dangerously incoherent. On the one hand, the Prime Minister is openly calling for increased domestic gas extraction and has brought forward approvals for North Sea developments, while at the same time regulators are preventing lower-cost onshore fields from ever being exploited.
Net Zero Watch director Dr Benny Peiser said:
It looks as though the Government still refuses to recognise the scale of the energy cost crisis. Unless they increase the supply of domestic gas, the UK will be stuck with very high energy prices for good while playing into Putin’s hand. The political price for the Conservative government is likely to be fatal.”
And Net Zero Watch’s Director of Energy Dr John Constable explained that regulators’ remits are making things worse.
Regulators across the energy industry have been ordered to help deliver Net Zero, with the consumer voice silenced. That’s why the Oil and Gas Authority is trying to prevent an increase in supply when households need it most. It’s callous and foolish.”
https://www.netzerowatch.com/government-needs-to-get-a-grip-on-energy-crisis/
One of the major issues here is that Net Zero has been deliberately placed as an overriding obligation in the OGA’s Strategy:
https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/regulatory-framework/the-oga-strategy/
Although they say they still aim to support North Sea oil and gas in the short term, it is clear that their Net Zero Strategy will take priority and often preclude this.
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February 10, 2022 at 07:00AM
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