Northern Ireland Economy Minister aims to ban onshore oil and gas exploration and fracking

Sinn Fein Economy Minister Conor Murphy has proposed a ban on onshore oil and gas exploration as well as fracking in Northern Ireland.

It comes two years after a sustained campaign by groups including LAMP Fermanagh, Friends of the Earth NI, Frack Action and Hollywood star Mark Ruffalo.

That pressure saw ex economy minister Gordon Lyons voice his opposition to fracking in the Assembly for the first time before it fell.

Read more: Mark Ruffalo applauds 'unexpected' DUP move on fracking in NI

Now Minister Murphy has picked up where DUP minister, Mr Lyons, left off and announced on Monday he will bring forward a proposal to ban onshore oil and gas exploration and production in the north.

There are no current active petroleum licences in NI while the Executive still has to issue decisions on two applications for vast areas of counties Fermanagh and Tyrone, Armagh and Antrim.

Minister Murphy said: "As climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time, one of the key objectives of my Economic Vision is to reduce carbon emissions. To meet our net zero targets, a priority will be to move away from petroleum to renewables.

"I intend to ban all forms of onshore petroleum exploration and production – including fracking. This will not only help us transition from fossil fuels to renewables but also towards a greener economy and more sustainable way of life.

"The Department for the Economy currently has the power to grant licences to companies to search for and extract onshore oil and gas. My department recently consulted on the petroleum licensing system. The consultation opened on 15th January and closed on the 12th of April. The vast majority of respondents to the consultation supported the move away from fossil fuels."

Dianne Little from LAMP Fermanagh said: "It was a 10 year battle to protect our community health, clean air and clean water.

"It's good that he is planning legislation and that the consultation shows people are overwhelming against any petroleum licencing. It's great to have got to the point that we have a preferred option for banning petroleum licencing - it's years of peoples' lives.

"That needs to be followed obviously with legislation. Sinn Fein promised us a fracking ban that didn't arrive. We are not out of the woods until we see the legislation they are bringing forward."

Dianne says Department for Economy policy is to "promote" gas which was highlighted in a University of Exeter report on our energy governance and that "we continue to build out the gas network". This also extends to the Utility Regulator.

"We need to be doing much more to transition to renewable energy," she added.

"More creative solutions, home insulation and we need to be going much further much faster to get people away from oil and gas."

Ireland and Wales have already banned onshore petroleum activity while Scotland has taken action on hydraulic fracturing, widely known as fracking.

"It is now time for us to act," added Minister Murphy.

"I will soon ask Executive colleagues to approve a ban and, if this is granted, I will introduce legislation to this Assembly to ban onshore petroleum licensing. This will require amendments to the Petroleum (Production) Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 and other regulations."

"The time involved in drafting the legislation and allowing for committee scrutiny means that the legislation will be introduced in 2025. In the meantime, my department will not accept or process onshore petroleum licensing applications."

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