Shale gas drilling near Blackpool, UK, in August 2017 MediaWorldImages/Alamy
The UK Treasury and the country鈥檚 oil and gas regulator chose to give fracking companies a refund of 拢640,000 after the government banned shale gas exploration in England, despite not being required聽to do so.
Exploratory fracking had already ground to a halt ahead of a moratorium imposed in November 2019, as companies struggled to operate without triggering minor earthquakes that alarmed local residents and forced the firms to pause work.
But prime minister Boris Johnson because…
