Campaigners warn that awarding of 159 licences for onshore oil and gas exploration could open up swaths of the country to controversial practice
The government’s controversial attempt to establish a shale gas industry in the UK took another step forward on Thursday when it handed out new licences for onshore gas and oil exploration in 159 blocks, in a move campaigners say could open up swaths of the countryside to fracking.
Companies must undergo a series of safety and environmental checks before they can start producing oil and gas commercially, though campaigners have maintained these are insufficiently tough.