ENERGY experts fear “ill-informed” opinion over fracking for oil and gas could derail today’s Infrastructure Bill.

They claim the third and final reading of the Bill on will be a crucial milestone on the way to securing the future of the UK’s valuable offshore oil and gas industry along with the hundreds of thousands of high skilled jobs, billions of pounds of investment and advanced technology it supports.

The passing of the Bill will enshrine in law the objective of Maximising Economic Recovery UK (MER UK), a recommendation of Sir Ian Wood’s review of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), which enjoys consensus across the political spectrum.

But there is a danger that the Bill could be derailed by an amendment conflating expressing environmental fears about the extraction of onshore unconventional oil and gas.

Malcolm Webb, Oil & Gas UK’s chief executive, said: “Next month marks a year since the publication of Sir Ian Wood’s report on the UKCS, the blueprint for maximising economic recovery of the North Sea’s oil and gas which was endorsed unanimously by industry and across the political sphere.

“The North Sea currently faces numerous challenges, including the recent slump in oil prices, so implementation of the Wood Report’s recommendations is needed more than ever. The passing of the Infrastructure Bill, including the MERUK initiative, is a crucial ingredient.  It is extremely regretful that an ill-informed amendment, backed by the Environment Audit Committee, is being used to derail industry and cross-party efforts to maximise economic recovering of oil and gas from the North Sea, a principle that has cross party support.