Widespread controversies have dogged the first round of fracking licencing, which opened for bidding on the 28 July.
This isn’t particularly surprising given increasing consumer confusion around the sustainability of our energy sources and security of supply. However, while the focus over the past few years has been firmly on the implications of the fracking process itself, and the environmental concerns that surround it, the broader impact of stimulating a UK fracking industry has not really been addressed – particualrly when it comes to skills stresses and strains.
Earlier this year, Ernst and Young published a report that found that fracking in the UK would prompt a £33million investment and create 64,000 jobs.
The majority of this investment will be funnelled into developing the infrastructure needed for drilling sites though the report, which was co-funded by government, also highlights that a proportion of investment will be put into developing new technologies and buying specialist equipment.
While this is welcome news, it still seems there is one thing that has been missing from fracking plans to date – strategic investment in training for the individuals who will do all those anticipated jobs.
Although the government has spoken widely about the potential benefits the industry could have on UK plc it has not fully recongnised the significant shortage of the skills needed to make UK fracking successful.
If the country does not invest in encouraging, finding and developing the most skilled workers, the potential benefits become irrelevant.
There are two key strands to the fracking skills outlook. Firstly there is the need for senior, experienced talent to lead the UK industry in its first days.
Then there is the need to develop training frameworks and talent recruitment mechanisms to ensure the industry has a skills pipeline for the future.
On the first point, we must accept that there will be a need to look abroad and source talented individuals working in mature fracking markets outside the UK.
To some extent this will result in the repatriation of British workers who have been working on fracking projects abroad, but it will also mean embracing international talent.
There is a lot we can learn from these markets where fracking is already an established energy source. The US in particular has been very successful in creating a strong industry which has contributed significantly to the nation’s fuel security.
There’s a lot that Britain could learn from the US fracking experience. But there’s also no denying that attracting talent from abroad will be difficult.
For a start, it’s unlikely the UK will be able to create the same stability and strength that the US fracking industry has achieved in recent years. Although the results of exploration suggest there are significant gas stores beneath the UK, it is still unclear how much it will be possible to extract and so it is unlikely that we will become a gas dependent nation in the same way that the US has.
This lower level of dependence will reduce the industry’s stability and therefore, will limit its ability to attract top talent in the long term.
Turning to the second strand of the UK’s fracking skills challenge, it is imperative that we invest in training now if we want to reap economic rewards from fracking in years to come and establish the UK as a European pioneer in shale gas.
An example should be taken from the nuclear industry which has drawn up clear skills strategy papers to run in parallel with ambitions for new nuclear growth in the UK.
Having a similar strategy for attracting and developing young talent in the fracking industry will guard against the issues associated with an aging workforce. Graduates must be targeted and shown the opportunities the industry holds. This communication of opportunity has been poor in the wider oil and gas industry. It is not uncommon for graduates to express negative impressions about the industry’s job prospects because they mistakenly believe the majority of work to be based on off-shore rigs.
Clearly this is only part of the story and new ways of sourcing oil and gas, including fracking, mean that it is a diminishing one.
Fracking can be a positive thing for the UK, but only if it is done in the right way.
Beyond the process and environmental concerns, skills will be key to making the UK industry a success. We have already heard a lot about the financial benefits the industry will have on UK plc, from a reduced dependency on imports – and the tax breaks that result – to the development of jobs.
Companies and government must invest in finding the right recruits to power the sector. Then the focus will be on training; using the skills acquired in more developed markets to drive training and industry in the UK. If we do not take this approach, we run the risk for fuelling an unsustainable industry, where there are few skilled workers; driving up competition and salaries across the industry to a point where it cannot be maintained.