In December, 2013 the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) published a regulation and best practice roadmap for operators of onshore oil and gas (shale gas) exploration in the UK. “The content is primarily for unconventional oil and gas operations, (specifically shale gas and coal bed methane developments) but many of the processes described will apply equally to conventional operations. The roadmap provides a basic, indicative overview of the process, highlighting key pieces of legislation and regulation, and identifying required actions and best practices at various stages.”

Reproduction of the press release from the DECC.