Prior to the recent June general election it looked certain that a new Tory government would further ease the mineral planning regulations in order to ‘liberalise’ the exploration and extraction environment for prospective oil and/or gas shale fracturing activities. One particular beneficiary of such a move would have been the petrochemical giant Ineos which over the past two years has continued to add considerable gas and oil infrastructure and gas onshore as well as offshore deposits to its Scottish monopoly portfolio.
However, the subsequent hung parliament has put such legislative moves on hold, although despite prevailing unfavourable market conditions outlined below, Ineos continues to lobby hard with a Scottish government ever attuned to the interests of corporate power. Brian Parkin explains. Read the whole article here.
Image by Pete Cannell – first session on new Scottish Parliament, licensed as CC0, Public Domain
Employment, Energy and Environment 