BusinessGreen: UK Fracking job creation 'overstated', Friends of the Earth report claims

Claims fracking will create thousands of jobs are overstated and fail to state the short-term natures of those jobs that the industry brings, according to a new report by green campaigners, trade unions and skills councils.

Supporters of the controversial shale gas industry have pointed to an Institute of Directors report, sponsored by energy company Cuadrilla, which said each well pad would create 1,104 jobs at their peak, based on peak production of approximately 21 billion cubic feet of gas per year.

But the paper from Friends of the Earth, published yesterday and supported by PCS Union and North West trades councils, argues this job creation estimate is over twice as high as the level of employment seen in the US, where a peer-reviewed analysis found 18.5 jobs were created per billion cubic feet of gas production. Based on this ratio, each UK well pad would create around 400 jobs at peak, the new report claims.
MORE