Company News
INEOS To Challenge Scotland Fracking Ban
Tuesday 16th January 2018
Hy Lok valve purchasers will be interested to hear the latest in the Scotland Fracking ban saga.
We reported last year that the Scottish Government had agreed to ban fracking there. This was following significant public pressure to stop the practice. A consultation was run by the Government to gather views on the issue, and ultimately decided to ban fracking last summer, following a moratorium since 2015.
This was a blow for the energy industry in Scotland which has been growing in recent years and is a significant boost to the economy there.
INEOS who own a gas-cleaning plant on the East coast of Scotland vowed at the time to challenge the decision and have now revealed plans that they are to go ahead with this threat.
Has now applied for a judicial review of the decision, citing "serious concerns" about its legitimacy.
INEOS Shale holds fracking exploration licences across 700 square miles of the country in addition to its processing plant in Grangemouth.
INEOS Shale Operations Manager Tom Pickering said: "We have serious concerns about the legitimacy of the ban and have therefore applied to the court to ask that it review the competency of the decision to introduce it."
Citing their own and other organisation's investment in R&D and technology, he made it clear that he felt their investment was being ignored, as was the position of Scotland as an energy powerhouse of the future, in an interview reported by the BBC.
The Scottish Government insists it took a 'considered approach' to the indefinite ban.
