Fracking was banned over environmental risks, but Andrea Jenkyns wants to bring the practice back in Lincolnshire
The Reform mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, Andrea Jenkyns, has approached the head of a US oil and gas company in a bid to bring fracking back to the county.
The Guardian has reported that Jenkyns reached out to Edgon Resources, a British subsidiary of US oil and gas company Heyco Energy, to ask how she “could help with your recent gas find in my county”.
This came after a major gas discovery in Lincolnshire’s Gainsborough Trough last year.
Fracking was banned in England under the Conservative government in 2019, when Jenkyns was a Tory MP, because of concerns that it can trigger earthquakes.
Fracking has also been banned by previous governments since 2011.
Despite the environmental damage that fracking can cause, Jenkyns is keen to bring the practice to Lincolnshire and has reportedly met fracking companies at least four times since she first contacted Egdon in June last year.
In the message to Edgon last summer, she said she was “very supportive of fracking”.
Mark Abbott, the company’s CEO responded 11 minutes later, offering to meet her to “discuss the potential for gas in Lincolnshire and the surrounding area”.
The Guardian reports having seen a presentation marked “Confidential”, in which Heyco downplayed concerns about toxic chemicals found in fracking fluid.
It also shared a list of rebuttals to key criticisms of fracking and its benefits over renewable forms of energy.
Reform, which has received £2.3 million in donations from fossil fuel interests between the 2019 and 2024 elections, is in favour of fracking. The party also wants to scrap net zero policies.
Last August, Nigel Farage signalled that Reform would encourage fracking, when he used Donald Trump’s slogan and told energy firms to get ready to “drill baby drill”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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