Government lets fracking companies drill exploratory wells despite ban on extracting shale gas Exclusive: Campaigners and MPs fear that fracking will be allowed to resume

The Government has opened the door to future fracking by refusing to ban the drilling of exploratory wells, campaigners fear.

Before the general election ministers placed a moratorium on fracking for shale gas, saying the process cannot be done safely without disrupting local communities.

But they have now confirmed that the ban – which is not written into law – does not cover exploratory drilling by energy companies to work out which areas of land is most suitable for shale gas extraction.

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Campaigners and MPs have called on the Government to tighten up the existing moratorium to make it clear that preparatory work should also be blocked.

‘Let’s ban it all’

Ministers announced in November that they were placing a moratorium on fracking, with all applications to carry out hydraulic fracturing being turned down by regulators.

But in response to a Parliamentary question from newly elected Conservative MP Alex Stafford, whose Rother Valley seat contains fracking sites, business minister Kwasi Kwarteng admitted that other fracking-related activities were not covered by the ban.

He said: “The definition of associated hydraulic fracturing, used for the purposes of Hydraulic Fracturing Consent, is as set out under section 4A of the Petroleum Act 1998.”

That legislation defines fracking as the use of high-pressured water to open up fissures in shale formations and release oil or gas, but does not include exploratory wells or dissolving rock with acid.

Mr Stafford told i: “If fracking is going to be banned, there’s no point drilling that hole. Let’s ban it all, and then if the science changes then of course we can reconsider.” He added: “It sends mixed messages about what the Government’s intentions are.”

‘Unacceptable’

Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on the environment, said: “It is completely unacceptable that exploratory drilling is permitted despite the supposed moratorium on fracking. We cannot take the moratorium seriously when the Tories are clearly signally to fossil fuel companies that they can plan for fracking in the future. The Tories’ lack of ambition for environmental protection is an embarrassment.”

Joe Corré, the head of campaign group Talk Fracking, claimed that under the definition of fracking used by the UK Government 90 per cent of all shale oil wells in America would not count.

He added: “The fracking moratorium is and has always been an electioneering lie… The moratorium does not even consider the other associated fracking techniques like acidisation where they pump huge volumes of hydrochloric acid into the ground to dissolve the limestone and release the gas or oil.”

Companies such as Cuadrilla and Ineos have continued various types of preparatory work to carry out fracking despite the moratorium. They argue that new technology is making fracking safer and reducing the risk of earthquakes, allowing the ban to be liften in the near future.