Company behind North Yorkshire fracking plans sells onshore business
Fracking business Third Energy has sold its onshore business after major delays to its fracking project in North Yorkshire.
The company, which saw two directors leave last year over the lack of progress on site, has sold its onshore business to York Energy (UK) Holdings, an affiliate of Alpha Energy, according to the BBC. Alpha is a US-based energy company that acquires oil and gas sites.
Third Energy was originally given approval in 2016 to engage in fracking activities at Kirkby Misperton. The fracking process involves the injection of pressurised liquid into the ground to extend and open fissures, releasing shale gas, and has been heavily criticised at local and national levels.
The launch of fracking at Kirkby Misperton was blocked by the government, who said a further financial investigation would be needed before approval would be given. This was in 2018 and the company was still waiting for that approval in March this year when it began removing equipment from site.
Strict rules around the process of gas extraction stipulate that fracking activity must stop if a mini-earthquake of 0.5 or above is detected, which have recently led to the UK’s shale gas commissioner Natascha Engel resigning after just six months.
In September 2018, the company was hit when chairman Keith Cochrane, the former interim chief executive of Carillion, and Jitesh Kishorekumar Gadhia, Baron Gadhia of Northwood, quit because of the company’s reportedly “low levels of activity”.
