Science Media Centre

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, today released the second part of her investigation into fracking and unconventional oil and gas exploration.  The report and a Q&A document from the Commissioner can be downloaded here.You can listen to audio of Dr Wright speaking at the report’s launch in Wellington, below: The SMC […]

The UK Government has given the go-ahead for hydraulic fracking activity in the country to tap valuable sources of shale gas. A drilling company Cuadrilla, was previously stopped from fracking after two small earthquakes occurred near Blackpool in the region of where fracking was happening. (See additional scientific commentary on thew Blackpool tremors). Conditions have been […]

The release of a much-anticipated report into the oil and gas extraction technique ‘fracking’ has stimulated public discussion on the regulation of the mining process in New Zealand. Parliamentary Comissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, yesterday released her report, Evaluating the environmental impacts of fracking in New Zealand: An interim report, which covers the background, […]

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, today released her report on hydraulic fracturing (fracking). The PCE’s report covers the background, environmental risks, current oversight and future implications of the use of unconventional techniques in oil and gas production in New Zealand. The Science Media Centre has gathered comment from scientists and independent […]

The number of earthquakes in the central United States rose “spectacularly” near where oil and gas drillers disposed of wastewater underground, according to a new study. The new report from the US Geological Survey comes just days after a UK report confirmed a causal link between fracking and seismic activity at a drilling site in […]

A report from independent experts into seismic risk associated with hydraulic fracturing commissioned by the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was released in London today. The report reviews data on small-scale earthquakes that occurred during fracking of the Preese Hall site near Blackpool in April and May 2011. It concludes that the […]

The editorial in today’s (Tuesday 3rd April) New Zealand Herald welcomes the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s announcement of an official inquiry into  fracking. An excerpt (read in full here): Editorial: Probe should yield clarity on fracking The inquiry into fracking being undertaken by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is extremely welcome. The technique, […]

Dr Jan Wright, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has confirmed that her office will undertake an inquiry into the issue of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. The possibility of a inquiry into the mining process had been foreshadowed earlier in the month by the commissioner, who has just completed a report examining the issue […]

The gas and oil extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing – AKA ‘fracking’ – has received increased media coverage in New Zealand recently as concerned community groups and the industry square off over potential environmental and health issues. TVNZ’s Sunday program ran a US-focused segment ‘A Fracking Mess‘ last weekend, which was followed by a […]

Hydraulic fracturing — a technology commonly known as “fraccing” or “fracking” — widely used in the oil and gas industry overseas has recently triggered some controversy in New Zealand, with critics raising questions over potential environmental impacts. Though the technology has not long been used in New Zealand, it is expected to be a key […]