Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria the Oil and Gas Authority uses in granting Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences for hydraulic fracturing.

Before a company can carry out exploration for oil and gas onshore it needs to apply to the Oil and Gas Authority for a Petroleum Exploration & Development Licence (PEDL). PEDLs do not give permission for operations. Rather, they grant exclusivity to licensees, in relation to hydrocarbon exploration and extraction (including for shale gas but also for other forms), within a defined area. The key criteria considered when assessing licence applications are the proposed operator’s competency, financial viability and financial capacity.