The Government has commissioned the British Geological Survey to advise on the latest scientific evidence around fracking.
Ministers are considering “all possible domestic energy sources” after the rises in the cost-of-living following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This comes after growing pressure from Tory MPs to overturn the ban on fracking, which has been in place since 2019.
After the announcement, Business and Energy Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng said: “We have always been, and always will be, guided by the science on shale gas.
“It remains the case that fracking in England would take years of exploration and development before commercial quantities of gas could be produced for the market, and would certainly have no effect on prices in the near term.
“However, there will continue to be an ongoing demand for oil and gas over the coming decades as we transition to cheap renewable energy and new nuclear power.
Fracking has been banned in the UK since 2019
Cuadrilla
Business and Energy Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng
Victoria Jones
“In light of Putin’s criminal invasion of Ukraine, it is absolutely right that we explore all possible domestic energy sources.
“However, unless the latest scientific evidence demonstrates that shale gas extraction is safe, sustainable and of minimal disturbance to those living and working nearby, the pause in England will remain in place.”
But environmental auditor, Donnachadh McCarthy doesn't believe fracking would be the best way to drive down the crisis.
Speaking exclusively to GB News, Mr McCarthy said: “We just saw film coverage of the planet from the space station which showed how fragile our planet is and we’re looking at a situation where the UN Secretary General said last week, our Government’s leadership are setting fire to that planet.
“The idea that we should use fracking as a solution to the energy crisis is a joke.
“We have to accept the cheapest energy to bring down consumer bills in the UK is two things – we need to insulate energy efficiency in our homes and we need to vastly expand our renewable energy and storage because they are a quarter of the price of fossil gas and electricity at the moment.
“Fracking is a distraction, if we invest £44billion in new fossil fuels, fracking and North Sea oil we will not reduce by a penny.
“However, if we invested that money into renewables and insulation, we do bring down people’s bills radically.”