Fracking Company Threatening North Yorkshire Communities Sells Up To Americans

Fracking company Third Energy has sold its onshore gas business (PDF), which includes licenses and sites in North Yorkshire (including Kirby Misperton site), to York Energy (UK) Holdings Ltd, an affiliate of an American fracking company Alpha Energy. Third Energy had significant financial difficulties which are stopping it from meeting some financial conditions need for final hydraulic fracturing consent at Kirby Misperton.

Third Energy was planning to carry out hydraulic fracturing tests on the KM8 well at its Kirby Misperton site in North Yorkshire, which it previously drilled through the Bowland Shale. The company planned to initially target tight sandstone layers within the Bowland Shale (so called tight gas). This unconventional extraction is very similar to shale gas, with the same impacts at the surface, and is a step on the way to exploiting the shale itself.

Communities across North Yorkshire and beyond have been resisting this threat for years, and the latest developments are a welcome sign of the effects of the campaign. These tests would be the first step in a process which could see thousands of fracking well spreading across North Yorkshire if not stopped. Third Energy’s is attempting to gather data which would allow it to gain further investment to push these plans forward. Support the community in Kirby Misperton if you can!

For information on how to get to Kirby Misperton see the Kirby Misperton Community Fracking Blockade.

Join the fracking resistance and support Lancashire’s threatened communities! Join or form an anti-fracking group where you live. Read up on how you can fight fracking where you live.