Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether hydraulic fracturing will be permitted to take place under property where the owner's consent has not been given.

Shale gas and oil operations involve hydraulic fracturing in wells drilled over a mile below the surface. At that depth it is highly unlikely that there will be any negative impact closer to the surface.

Like most other industrial activities, oil and gas operations require permission from landowners to access their land in order to reach mineral deposits.

Operators prefer where possible to agree this through negotiation with the landowner, but there is an existing legal route by which they can apply for access where this cannot be negotiated. In this respect, it is already possible for an operator to gain access to land for the extraction of oil or gas without a landowner's permission through the courts.

The Government is considering whether these existing procedures used to obtain access are fit for purpose in relation to underground land. We have not yet made a decision on what actions we may take.