Fracking

Guy Opperman Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd May 2012 Westminster Hall

[David Morris (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Con)]

I am delighted to have secured this debate on fracking—or, to give it its proper title, hydraulic fracturing. I hope that by the end of the debate we shall have laid some myths to rest, and that the House will be satisfied that the opportunity that fracking presents is being explored in a responsible manner.

I would not describe myself as either pro-fracking or anti-fracking; I support the exploration of any new energy source as long as it is safe. We need a mix of different energy sources, so that we are never reliant on one in particular. I think that we all agree with that. I understand that the Minister who would usually respond to the debate, my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry), is unable to be here and I thank his colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), for stepping in. Both my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden and his Parliamentary Private Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Fylde (Mark Menzies), have done a huge amount to help explore the important technology in question, while dealing with the safeguarding of our constituents and calls for tighter regulation. The House owes them a debt of gratitude for their tireless work.

I suppose I should explain my interest in this subject. The Bowland basin is not in my constituency, but many of the people who would work in the industry are. Furthermore, Morecambe and Lunesdale is one of the biggest energy producers in the UK. Heysham 1 and 2 produce 4.5% of the national grid’s capability; Centrica’s liquefied natural gas support station brings gas in from across the world to the UK; a number of offshore drilling operations exist in Morecambe bay; and, most controversially, wind farms, if they cannot be built in the lakes, are threatened in our area.

Engineering and energy production are major exports for my constituency and the whole of north Lancashire, so we are positive about any opportunities, especially given that 5,600 jobs could be created nationally—and, potentially, 1,700 in the wider Morecambe and Lunesdale area. Obviously, when local people are trained to do that sort of work they will have opportunities to go abroad, as happened in Aberdeen after the North sea oilfield opened—something that became known as the Aberdeen effect.

Fracking is not a new technique; it has taken place in the UK for decades. What is new is that the established technology is being used to extract shale gas, which has revolutionised gas production in north America. In the past, the USA and Canada had a shortage of gas, but today their industry is booming. The rise in shale gas production is striking, going from 28 billion cubic metres in 2006 to 140 billion cubic metres in 2010. Gas reserves are now at their highest since 1971—an amazing thought, given the dire predictions for their supplies a few years ago. I think we would all like the UK to benefit from that kind of gas supply.

The industry is keen to point out that we are unsure how much shale gas we have in the UK, but one estimate by Cuadrilla suggests that the Bowland site alone could have 5.6 trillion cubic metres. Obviously, not all that gas can be extracted, but that estimate would make the field comparable in size to the second most productive field in America—the Barnett shale in Texas.

In 2010, the Department for Energy and Climate Change predicted that gas prices would rise by 21% by 2030. Suddenly, by taking into account more and more shale gas, they revised that estimate down to 11%, so shale gas may well halve the rise in gas bills over the next 20 years—a welcome thought to those struggling to pay energy bills.

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate on an important issue. I am a supporter of the economic and environmental benefits of shale gas. Does my hon. Friend agree that the data show that it has cut carbon emissions in a way that wind, solar and biomass have singularly failed to do?

[David Morris]

Yes, I agree, and we should be striving towards a lower-carbon economy. Shale gas would contribute to that. It is better for the environment than other energy sources—that has already been acknowledged—and it now helps to meet Government targets for low emissions, as my hon. Friend has just said. Research by Policy Exchange states that if China were to switch from coal to shale gas that would cut its emissions by five times the UK’s total carbon output, so there is a big prize. If we get things right and sort out the concerns, we can have a good and healthy market in the UK.

At the end of the process, we will need to know that we made the best use of our technology and natural resources, but in an environment that protects the public, so I want to ask the Minister to clarify some points. What steps are being taken to ensure that waste water does not contaminate the environment? How will we prevent fugitive emissions? What steps are being taken to reduce seismic activity? What rights will landowners and local communities have to benefit from mineral rights? Overall, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that our regulatory environment is fit for purpose?

--- Later in debate ---

[Guy Opperman]

I am sure that my hon. Friend is coming on to this point. I endorse the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Eric Ollerenshaw). Just as mineral rights and the benefits from wind power are felt not by the wider community but by an individual farmer or energy company, so it is with fracking. I suggest that if mineral rights were to benefit the whole community, rather than an isolated individual, fracking would be a great deal more popular and bring much more benefit to the community.

[David Morris]

Hear, hear! I agree with everything that my hon. Friend said.

We have all seen things go wrong in certain parts of America, but we must also bear in mind that last year the Americans drilled 45,000 wells, with very few problems. They are also operating much older wells that exist in a less strict regulatory environment than here in the UK. That must be understood. I hope that we can benefit from their success and, most importantly, learn from their mistakes.

Today we stand at the beginning of a revolution in UK gas production. We have a community with the expertise. Lancaster university, the nuclear power industry and small and medium-sized enterprises are already geared up to exploit that resource and we look forward to falling energy bills as a result. I hope that the Minister can clarify my concerns. Most of all, will he assure me that DECC is doing everything it can to push this project forward in a safe and responsible way? That is the road to a safe, profitable and cheap supply of energy for the 21st century.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (David Morris) on securing the debate and giving the issue such rigorous, thoughtful and well researched attention, as it deserves.

The role of unconventional gas and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is indeed topical. I have just come back from the United States, and no one there who takes the slightest interest in the energy or climate change agenda can fail to be moved by the huge impact that it is having on the economics and politics of energy—the huge potential benefits to the US economy, the challenges presented to other parts of the energy sector, and the questions raised about the long-term climate change implications of the new fossil fuel.

[Guy Opperman]

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way and I apologise for interrupting his speech just as he was gaining momentum. He talks eloquently about the way in which America is transforming its energy provision and dramatically reducing its energy bills. In his State of the Union address in January 2012, President Obama said that any company drilling on Government land would have to disclose the chemical used for fracking so that

“America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.”

Is not that the right way for us to be going ahead as well?

--- Later in debate ---

[Gregory Barker]

But apart from that—[Laughter.] No, my hon. Friend makes a serious point and I understand his concerns. No one could suggest that Lancashire is not taking more than its fair share of the burden of the energy economy. However, there are many opportunities to be gained. Each of the points that he raises bears serious consideration. Let me assure him that my Department not only looks at these things individually, on their own merits and in their own right, but takes into account the wider picture that is created by these individual interventions.

[Guy Opperman]

I welcome the point about the wider picture. In Northumberland, which is no less deserving than Lancashire, there are applications for two open-cast mines. Given that those open-cast mines will exist for years and will produce barely eight to 10 days’ worth of coal for particular power stations, and that fracking has the potential to produce about 150 billion cubic metres of gas, one has to add up the relative benefits. The people of Northumberland, and of the wider country, want an energy strategy that takes into account these points. On that issue, I endorse entirely what was said by my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Eric Ollerenshaw).

[Gregory Barker]

My hon. Friend’s eloquent intervention is on the record, and I certainly take on board his points. I now want to crack on because I want to reply in some detail to the serious points that my hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale raised in his opening speech.