Anti-Fracking Action — Next Round.

A brief summery of the resistance to the fracking industry during 2017.

During 2017 the fracking industry’s activity continued but strong, well organised and imaginative community opposition resulted in delays and heavy costs for the corporations involved. This year promises to be another grinding, slow slog for the fracking industry with money being lost hand over fist due to community opposition around the UK.
The fracking industry has to artificially crank up the possibility of profit to draw in investment capital that is its life blood. But there are over 300 local groups in the anti-fracking movement which has successfully increased in numbers, strength and motivation. It is this direct action movement which threatens to bleed the fracking industry of its profit and stop it dead in its tracks.
Last year saw a broad range of creative resistance to the fracking industry. That resistance focused on the fracking sites with protest camps, marches and blockades. But the challenge to fracking also involved organising disruption of the network of supply routes and support sites. Lorries have been held-up for days with different tactics including lorry surfing. 
The tactic of communications blockades such as coordinated mass phone-ins has also been used to effect business and cut the profit of those companies engaged in fracking. In the face of these organised protests some suppliers have stopped working with the fracking industry. Some fracking operations have been slashed. Cuadrilla planned two large shale gas sites in Lancashire but the these were scaled down to only one at Preston New Road. That site was going to have four wells but those were then reduced to just two. The construction work took over six months — double the planned time. 
While Lancashire is a major front in the battle against fracking, North Yorkshire, the East Midlands, South East and other areas are important and anti-fracking actions are ongoing in these places. A winning strategy of causing construction costs to skyrocket by creating painful delays through organised disruption using a whole array of tactics could mean that the fracking industry grinds to a halt. Organised direct action against fracking can win, both in the UK and internationally.
For extensive info about the anti-fracking movement, including updates, local groups, maps and other resources check: frack-off.org.uk

Anti-Fracking Action — Next Round

London Anarchist Communists support Anti-Fracking Leafleting in Dorking

Members of London Anarchist Communists helped out with leafleting alongside Surrey & Hants Anarchist Federation members plus a member of Surrey Communist Anarchists on Saturday January 13th in Dorking to publicise the proposed drilling at nearby Leith Hill.

Europa Oil & Gas have fought a six year battle against local residents to impose the drilling site on the community, first submitting their planning application in 2009.

All necessary planning consents are now in place for the drilling of the Holmwood-1 exploration well. This well is intended to test the Portland sandstone, Kimmeridge Clay and Corallian targets, and is similar to the Horse Hill-1 well drilled by UKOG. At present Europa is planning to attempt to drill the Holmwood-1 well in late 2016 or 2017.

Fracking company UK Oil and Gas Investments (UKOG) have stated that the proposed Holmwood-1 well at the site would provide a further valuable “proof of concept” step in UKOG’s plans to exploit the Kimmeridge Clay for shale oil. This threatens the drilling of thousands of wells across the Weald. The British Geological Surveys estimates well over a thousand wells while those from UKOG, based on data from Horse Hill, might require over 3000 wells.

Frack Off

Frack Off: Voice for Leith Hill

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