“It seems that Scottish (and Welsh) Governments have made the political calculation that it is best to let England lead the way in building the UK evidence base on fracking.”

That is the conclusion of analysis of differing policy approaches to shale gas licensing, exploration and development by a prominent energy lawyer from a London firm

Adam Brown added: “For the Coalition Government in Westminster, a safety-first approach to fracking may be achievable simply by means of some deft legislative drafting, the politics in Edinburgh and Cardiff are different. 

“Both Scottish and Welsh Ministers have recently taken a less positive stance on fracking.

“The negative noises from Ministers in the devolved governments come in the context of debates about further devolution of energy-related powers and against the background of the awkward split between the oil and gas licensing regime (currently administered by the Secretary of State for all of Great Britain, but a potential candidate for further devolution, particularly in Scotland) and the planning regime (where Welsh and Scottish Ministers are, or can be, the ultimate decision-makers). 

 “Any unconventional development will need both a Petroleum Act licence and planning permission.”

The Scottish Shale Energy Conference 2015

Scottish Energy News is organising a special post-election conference on Scottish Shale Energy

September 2015

Reserve your premium place now – with a 10% discount for all bookings made by 7 May 2015

Email: Sales@ScottishEnergyNews.com

Keynote Speakers and Agenda will be announced shortly.

The Scottish Shale Energy Conference will be held in Scotland’s Central Belt

Shale gas will replace oil in the UK – with or without fracking – http://goo.gl/OgY3De

SHALE: A God-send – or the Devil’s work?

Shale gas is an “unconventional” fossil fuel that is found within natural fissures and fractures underground. Until recently, no method of safely transporting it to the surface existed. It is mined via hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, the process of breaking apart layers of shale by horizontally pumping liquids and a number of volatile and toxic chemical additives under high pressure thereby releasing trapped gas reserves.

To proponents, shale gas represents an untapped and welcome alternative energy source to traditional fossil fuels.

To detractors it is a hazardous and highly-polluting fossil fuel.

www.ScottishEnergyNews.com

Twitter @ScotEnergyNews

Following our launch in September 2013, the Scottish Energy News business-to-business daily email newsletter ended last year by more than doubling subscribers.

It is now sent to more than 4,000 individually-named and actively subscribed readers – every day.  Readers include 75% of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament – and many more in Brussels and Westminster.

In addition, the Scottish Energy News website is now visited by an average of just under 8,000 unique visitors per month (Jul-Dec 2014). Last month (January 2015)  the Scottish Energy News website attracted a total of 8, 329 unique visitors, and we have a growing number of Twitter followers.

While most readers/ subscribers are based in the UK/ Ireland, 10% of readers are based in North America and Japan/China/ Australia.

We will also publish a Scottish Shale Energy special conference report.

For details of these advertising opportunities, contact our Marketing Partners:

Contact Publicity

15 Newton Terrace

Glasgow

G3 7PJ Tel:

0141 204 2042

Email: info@contactpublicity.co.uk