The Scottish parliament has voted narrowly in favour of a resolution tabled by Scottish Labour, calling for an immediate ban on fracking throughout the country. The bill sponsored by Labour environment spokesperson Claudia Beamish passed by a vote of 32 to 29 with 62 parliamentarians abstaining, mostly from the governing Scottish National Party (SNP) of first minister Nicola Sturgeon. The vote taken as part of a debate on the environment is non-binding. Nevertheless, it is being seen as a blow to Sturgeon, who has been criticised by both proponents and opponents of fracking as straddling the fence on the issue.

Beamish has now called on the SNP government to “clarify whether or not they will respect the will of parliament and introduce an outright ban on fracking,” adding that “it would be outrageous for this important vote to be ignored.” Scotland’s new energy minister, Paul Wheelhouse, repeated Sturgeon’s earlier statements that the government remains “deeply sceptical” about fracking. However, it wants to wait for the results of a study on fracking and a public consultation that could last until spring 2017. A national moratorium on fracking was recently extended, pending completion of the process – see Plasteurope.com of 16.10.2015.

The Scottish Conservative Party, which unanimously supports fracking as a way to preserve the country’s status as an important energy player in the wake of what appears to be dwindling oil and gas reserves in the North Sea, was the only party to vote “no” on the Labour resolution. Its finance spokesman, Murdo Fraser, said it was “ridiculous” to try to ban shale extraction just as the energy industry is “looking to diversify.” He called on the SNP to “ignore Labour and the Greens' manufactured outrage over fracking.” Another Conservative MP said a “leftwing cabal” of Labour, Greens and Liberal Democrats was ignoring scientific evidence and the potential of the process to boost jobs and the economy.

Polyolefins giant Ineos (Rolle / Switzerland; www.ineos.com), which has been active in the drive to promote fracking across the UK, did not comment on the parliament’s vote. However, in the run-up to the environment debate, the company’s director of corporate affairs, Tom Crotty, hinted that Ineos will now concentrate its shale exploration efforts on England, where it has deployed its geologists and petrochemical engineers “to 100%.” Scotland, he added, “will miss out” on the shale gas revolution (see also Plasteurope.com of 24.03.2016). Crotty said the company had been “fairly clear with the Scottish government” that the delay in the decision-making process was “not helpful.”

Ineos’ prospects for beginning exploration in England have indeed brightened, as the North Yorkshire County Council recently approved an application by exploration company Third Energy to frack a well near the village of Kirby Mispelton – see Plasteurope.com of 14.03.2016. It was the first project to receive approval since the UK’s Conservative government gave the green light for drilling in 2012 and recently made it easier for London to overrule local anti-fracking decisions. According to reports, several hundred wells could be drilled across the hills of North Yorkshire if Third Energy deems the rock formations suitable.

Local anti-fracking groups have vowed to disrupt any drilling activity. One, Free Frack Ryedale, said Third Energy has “no social licence” to operate wells because the council’s – overridden – public consultation on fracking showed overwhelming opposition. Some environmentalists also questioned the timing of a joint report by two US government agencies, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), published almost simultaneously with the Scottish vote. Based on a study that considered the impact of fracking on marine ecosystems during offshore fracking operations in the US state of California, the authors asserted that fracking in the ocean presents no “significant” risk to the marine environment.