Government moves aimed at reducing local opposition to shale gas projects starting could come as a welcome boost for oil & gas recruiters affected by plunging prices.

At the weekend government raised the prospect of residents affected by fracking being paid some of the proceeds of shale gas projects.

While a shale wealth fund was unveiled in 2014 to set aside up to 10% of the tax proceeds from fracking to benefit communities in the UK hosting wells, the Prime Minister Teresa May is now considering paying the money directly to individual households instead of councils and local trusts.

Fracking is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure to fracture shale rocks, resulting in the release of natural gas. The process of fracking has proven controversial and has come under fire from environmentalists who contend that the consequences include ground water contamination, depletion of fresh water, degradation of air quality and the triggering of earthquakes. 

Energy recruiters have been hit hard by the falling oil price in recent years and James Gorfin, chief executive at global recruitment firm G2v Group told Recruiter the government’s move would give a “bounce” to those recruiters operating in the energy sector.

“We believe these proposals would have a catalytic effect on the UK’s shale gas industry,” Gorfin  said. “Fracking for shale gas is in its embryonic stage and therefore finding professionals with the relevant skills is not an easy task.”

Meanwhile, Peter Searle, chief executive at global workforce solutions provider to the energy, process and infrastructure industries Airswift told Recruiter the talent pool in the oil & gas sector would benefit from being able to move on to shale gas projects with work drying up for those working in the exploration and production, otherwise known as upstream sector.

“£400bn a year has been taken out of upstream exploration. Therefore there has been a vacuum of new projects opening up and projects finishing,” said Searle.

“The immediate impact is it took the pressure out of the jobs market because there were no new projects being set up. There were existing projects running. That pressure has been coming the opposite way now for the last couple of years.

“It will be a good thing. It will enable us to fill roles. Some of the skill sets are somewhat different so it’s not going to be easy but there will be as a result of projects finishing upstream more people available to put into them. There will be a smoother transition for the marketplace.”