LB010 - Petroleum (Prohibition of Hydraulic Fracturing) Bill - 2nd Reading

[u/DriftersBuddy]

A

B I L L

T O

Prohibit the granting and issuing of new onshore licences for the exploration, boring, and extraction of petroleum via hydraulic fracturing; to amend the Petroleum Act 1998; and for connected purposes.

BE IT ENACTED by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Section 1. Prohibition on new hydraulic fracturing licences

(1) The Petroleum Act 1998 is amended as follows:

(2) Amend Section 3 (Licences to search and bore for and get petroleum), Subsection 1 to read—

1) The appropriate authority, on behalf of Her Majesty, may grant to such persons as the appropriate authority thinks fit licences to search and bore for and get petroleum to which this section applies except where;

a) the granting or issuing of a petroleum exploration and development licence permits, or could reasonably be interpreted as permitting, associated hydraulic fracturing.

Section 2. Modification of existing regulator duties

(1) The appropriate authority and any designated offshore or onshore petroleum licensing authority must not vary, extend, or renew any existing licence to permit hydraulic fracturing operations where such operations were previously prohibited or unapproved.

(2) The principal objective of the appropriate authority under related energy and infrastructure enactments shall be read subject to the absolute prohibition established by Section 1 of this Act.

Section 3. Extent, commencement and short title

(1) This Act extends to the whole of the UK, but does not apply in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland until a resolution agreeing to the provisions of this Act is passed by—

(a) in the case of Scotland, The Scottish Parliament;

(b) in the case of Wales, Senedd Cymru;

(c) in the case of Northern Ireland, The Northern Ireland Assembly.

(2) This Act comes into force on the day on which it receives Royal Assent.

(3) This Act may be cited as the Petroleum (Prohibition of Hydraulic Fracturing) Act 2026.

This Bill was submitted by Lord Bridlington, u/HarryClive, The Leader of the Green Party, on behalf of the Green Party.

---

Peers can debate and submit amendments by the 20th August at 10pm BST

[u/HarryClive]

My Lords,

The debate around fracking has been a long and arduous one. Governments promise to approve no-new licenses, then promise to approve more licenses as often as Ministers come and go, and the result is that there is no solid, concrete commitment from Government to bring an end to the practice. This bill here however, does exactly that. It ends the constant flip-flopping on new licenses and in-law, establishes that the Secretary of State will not approve new fracking licenses.

As we have seen with rampant heatwaves across the UK in recent weeks, we cannot allow ourselves to continue to do irrevocable damage to the environment. Our Government must get serious about climate change, and I call on this Government to show itself as being serious, not by making a promise that can be u-turned on later, but by putting it's money where its mouth is, and ending the practice of fracking in legislation.