Liz Truss’s government has formally lifted a ban on fracking for shale gas that has been in place since 2019 despite the lack of safety data, saying it was “absolute priority” to boost energy supply.
Business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said all sources of energy needed to be explored “so it’s right that we’ve lifted the pause to realise any potential sources of domestic gas”.
The new licensing round is expected to lead to over 100 new licences, the business department announced on Thursday – despite conceding that there was still a need to “gather better data” on safety.
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