DESMOGUK
By Mat Hope
March 28, 2017
A secretive fracking conference sponsored by Dow
Chemical and Halliburton and featuring speakers from a range of
publically-funded government agencies is taking place somewhere in Birmingham
tomorrow.
The UK Onshore Oil and Gas: Policy, Planning and
Future Developments conference aims to encourage delegates to pursue fossil
fuel extraction in the UK.
The conference is “designed to give help, guidance and
support to the public sector to ensure delegates attending have the right and
most accurate information on onshore oil and gas and environmental planning”,
according to its website. It will also explore ways “to minimise environmental
impacts, such as the treatment of waste water from drilling operations, noise
pollution and traffic management, to local communicates [sic]”, the website
says.
The organisers, the ironically named Open Forum
Events, told DeSmog UK press passes for the event are “limited” with only a few
chosen national and trade journalists being allowed into the conference.
Its location is being kept secret due to “the
sensitivity of the subject”. This is “company policy”, the organisers told
DeSmog UK.
Ken Cronin, chief executive of industry lobby group UK
Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG) will chair the event. DeSmog UK recently revealed
how UKOOG sits in a network of global fracking organisations that pour lobbying
money into the UK parliament.
Dow Chemical is also part of this network, having
given £2,500 to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas
in 2016. Oil giant BP has a 16 percent stake in the chemical giant.
Andrew Mullaney, Lancashire County Council’s head of
planning and environment is also speaking at the event. Mullaney has been under
pressure in recent months as local residents continue to protest against
Cuadrilla’s shale gas operations at Preston New Road.
He will certainly be an authoritative voice – Mullaney
recently claimed he spent a third of his time monitoring the Preston New Road
site, with another planning officer spending two-thirds of their time on the
work.
Mark Hill, head of development management for the
North York Moors National Park Authority will also speak at the event. In 2015,
six licenses were granted to companies including Cuadrilla and Ineos to
potentially frack in the national park.
The government officials will be joined by a number of
prominent industry voices…
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