In an open letter in The Daily Telegraph, Cameron said: “Fracking has become a national debate in Britain – and it is one that I’m determined to win.
“If we don’t back this technology, we will miss a massive opportunity to help families with their bills and make our country more competitive. Without it, we could lose ground in the tough global race.”
The practice of fracking – drilling for so-called unconventional gas – has rightly drawn scrutiny, according to Cameron, but he added there were a great deal of myths that had also sprung up.
Latest estimates from the British Geological Survey (BGS) suggest there are about 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas underneath just 11 counties in the UK, and if just a tenth was extracted the country could be supplied with up to 51 years’ worth of gas.
The estimate is a resource figure (gas-in-place) and so represents the gas the BGS thinks is present and not the gas that might be possible to extract. This is unknown, as it depends on economic, geological and social factors, the BGS said.
“Shale gas clearly has potential in Britain but it will require geological and engineering expertise, investment and protection of the environment,” the BGS added.
Cameron referred to the example in the US, which currently has more than 10, 000 fracking wells opening up each year and has gas prices 3.5 times lower than those in the UK.
In addition companies have agreed to pay £100, 000 to every community situated near an exploratory well and if gas is then extracted will pay the local area 1% of the revenue.
“If neighbourhoods can see the benefits – and are reassured about its effects on the environment – then I don’t see why fracking shouldn’t receive real public support,” Cameron continued.
He then dismissed the myth that fracking damages the countryside.
“My message to the country is clear – we cannot afford to miss out on fracking. For centuries Britain has led the way in technological endeavour. Fracking is part of this tradition, so let’s seize it,” he concluded.
