Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the level of potential flaring on shale gas sites.

Flaring of gas at onshore sites in England requires a permit from the Environment Agency and the consent of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State under the Energy Act 1976. Our policy is that any flaring should be reduced to the economic minimum.

In the Strategic Environmental Assessment carried out for the 14^th onshore licensing round, the level of flaring for unconventional oil and gas was assessed to be 500,000 cubic meters of methane per fractured exploration well.