Posted on 07/02/2014 8:51:48 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
People will be more likely to support fracking if they have a direct commercial interest in the extraction of shale oil and gas beneath their land, Mayor of London says.
British households should be given ownership of the oil and gas beneath their homes so that they have a commercial interest in supporting fracking, Boris Johnson has said.
The Mayor of London said that the law should be changed so that “mineral rights” belonged to the landowner, rather than the Crown.
Currently, the Government grants licences to companies to explore for and produce oil and gas, while the owners of the land beneath which it lies have no right to share in the proceeds.
Mr Johnson said the arrangement was a historical anomaly that was fuelling opposition to fracking and causing “paralysis” in attempts to explore for shale oil and gas.
As a result, Britain’s hoped-for shale gas revolution had so far been “underwhelming to the point of absurdity”, he said.
“Give the British people their mineral rights, and get fracking at last,” he urged....
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
What next, wildcatters in London?
Patented Mining claim; I own my mineral rights.
Good to be an AMERICAN.
It’s the same system in most of Alberta. The driller just pays the landowner for damage and inconvenience. The rest goes to the government.
Socialist mayor of big city does something non-Socialist
I do not have mineral rights to my small piece of Texas land...a lot of land in Texas the landowner does not own the mineral rights...which is very Business Socialist
Is that not because a previous landowner sold the mineral rights, though? Or because a previous landowner sold the land, but retained the mineral rights?
I don't know that there is anything "socialist" about it?
That’s right. It’s not at all unusual for someone to sell the land and reserve the mineral rights. Out in western Oklahoma a lot of land is grazed by cattle with working wells operating nearby.
His point is well made and if Americans will think about it this is good news. It means he sees that the American way of property rights is the right answer.
I strongly believe, the US major reason for being a major energy producer is the rights and ability of individuals to profit from their property, risks and labor.
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