Addressing a cross-party group of MPs and industry stakeholders at an Unconventional Oil and Gas reception on Wednesday, Davey admitted: “I love shale gas.”
Gas complements rather than displaces renewables, he argued, and shale gas is lower carbon than LNG imports. “If you look at the carbon footprint of shale gas compared to LNG from the other side of the world, it is a no-brainer.”
The Department of Energy and Climate Change is leading a “whole-government effort” to develop shale gas. The environment, communities and revenues departments are respectively working to streamline regulation, planning rules and taxes, said Davey.
The UK could learn from the US experience and its expertise in extracting oil and gas from the – now declining – North Sea oilfields, he said.
With the 14th licensing round underway for onshore oil and gas, “we now need to get on with doing that experimental drilling”.
Davey said a number of myths had sprung up around hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. “It will be a challenge, but I believe we can dispel the myths and get on and do our work,” he said.
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas has more than 75 MPs on board and 40 associate members including environmental NGOs as well as industry, chairman Dan Byles said.
“The UK should be the beacon of best practice,” he said.