Reform mayor courted US oil and gas executive about fracking in UK

Lincolnshire’s Reform party mayor, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, has courted the head of an American oil and gas dynasty in the hope of bringing fracking to the county, the Guardian can reveal.Egdon Resources, a British subsidiary of the US fracker Heyco Energy, announced a major gas discovery in Lincolnshire’s Gainsborough Trough last year. Jenkyns, who became the first mayor of Greater Lincolnshire in May, reached out personally to the company asking how she “could help with your recent gas find in my county”, according to records released by the mayoral authority in response to a freedom of information request.Fracking was effectively banned in England in 2019 because of concerns it could trigger earthquakes. But Jenkyns is keen to bring the practice to Lincolnshire and appears to have met fracking companies at least four times since she first contacted Egdon in June.In a presentation marked “Confidential”, Heyco downplayed concerns about toxic chemicals found in fracking fluid. It also shared a list of rebuttals to key criticisms of fracking and its benefits over renewable forms of energy, which was tailored to the Gainsborough Trough project, the documents obtained by the Guardian show.Jenkyns said she was “very supportive of fracking” in her message asking how she could help the company, sent to Egdon’s general inbox in June last year. The company’s CEO, Mark Abbott, responded 11 minutes later, offering to meet her to “discuss the potential for gas in Lincolnshire and the surrounding area”.Jenkyns is a staunch critic of net zero who has described the concept as a “con” and lodged several objections to energy projects such as solar farms and pylons in Lincolnshire.Egdon owner George Yates is a Trump donor and member of a century-old New Mexico oil and gas dynasty with strong links to the Republican Party. He has previously described net zero as a pseudo-scientific approach to reducing carbon emissions and falsely blamed the UK’s high energy prices on the government’s climate policies.An email from Abbott to Jenkyns and other Greater Lincolnshire county officials after the meeting said the group discussed “the potential of shale gas in the Gainsborough Trough” and “how to build support for its development”. The existence of the field has been known for more than a decade.The email also included a list of next steps from the meeting. Abbott said he would explore the possibility of a visit to a US shale operation for the group and help set up a meeting with Yates and his daughter Lauren when they were next in the UK.In a video posted to Facebook on the same day as her meeting with Abbott, Jenkyns praised the gas find, calling it a “no-brainer”.Jenkyns and her officials met Yates in October last year, during which the American oil executive presented Egdon’s analysis of the “potential positive impacts of shale gas development for Lincolnshire,” the documents show.Jenkyns then again met Egdon’s parent company, Heyco Energy Group, in December, at which they discussed energy in Lincolnshire, according to a post on her X account.Fracking remains highly controversial in the UK, with 51% opposed to the practice, according to polling. Even Reform-led councils Lancashire and North Yorkshire have opposed fracking and similar gas extraction projects in their council areas.Richard Davies, Conservative group leader at Lincolnshire county council, said fracking was “extremely controversial” in Lincolnshire.“I think the overwhelming sense from most people who live and work here is … what’s the truth behind the marketing spin?” Davies said. ”What are the risks, what are the bonuses? What are the environmental impacts?”A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We intend to ban fracking for good and make Britain a clean energy superpower to protect current and future generations.”Yates has also maintained links with the climate sceptic Global Warming Policy Foundation. In 2022, he hosted director and cofounder Benny Peiser and the head of its American arm, Francis Menton, at the Dallas Petroleum Club. The pair delivered a lecture characterising Europe’s net zero agenda as a “major threat” that incentivised “Putin’s energy wars”.In February 2025, Yates spoke at the first Lincolnshire Energy Conference. His presentation, obtained by the Guardian, reveals how the fracking executive sought to blame high energy prices on the UK’s efforts to tackle climate change, when they were actually driven by a global spike in natural gas prices.Jenkyns and other Reform officials have also opposed local renewable energy schemes, including efforts to scale back a community solar scheme providing energy to a fire station and leisure centre.Prior to Jenkyns’ election, the Greater Lincolnshire authority had applied for funding from the government’s mayoral renewables fund to install solar panels and batteries on council buildings, including a fire station and local leisure centre, with “intensive” energy requirements. The aim was to “deliver savings” on building running costs, freeing up money for other public services.But the day after her first meeting with Egdon, Jenkyns and Lincolnshire county council’s Reform leader, Sean Matthews, opposed the project in a closed meeting. Jenkyns cited safety concerns, referencing unsubstantiated reports of battery-related fires. Sources with knowledge of the situation said no safety risks had previously been raised.The authority had been offered £602,000 from the fund, but required mayoral approval to accept it. To avoid returning the money, board members suggested alternative proposals to the mayor, including removing the batteries from the project, according to a councillor who spoke on condition of anonymity.A revised funding application letter asked for £430,000, a third less than originally offered by central government. The document, obtained via an FOI request, noted that without on-site batteries, there would be no capacity to store excess energy for later use or export it back into the grid.In an email update to council leaders, also obtained by the Guardian, an official said removing the batteries had resulted in fewer solar panels and therefore “a reduction in generating capacity and operating savings.” Despite this, Jenkyns framed the outcome as a win and told followers on X that she was delivering on her campaign promise to push back on net zero and government waste.A month later, Matthews and Jenkyns launched Lincolnshire Opposes Renewable Eyesores (Lore), an anti-renewables campaign organised with Tice. In her speech, Jenkyns echoed Egdon’s claims about the benefits of fracking the Gainsborough Trough in her speech. She also pledged to equip Lincolnshire’s residents with the skills to “drill baby drill” under a future Reform government.The next day, Matthews and several other Reform councillors visited the onshore oil and gas firm Star Energy’s head office in Welton and toured several of its production facilities, according to emails obtained by the Guardian. The company holds several fracking licences in Lincolnshire, including a number in the Gainsborough Trough area.Afterwards, Lincolnshire county council’s deputy leader, Rob Gibson, put Star Energy in touch with the mayor’s office. In a video shared to the mayor’s social media channels a month later, Jenkyns announced her own visit to Star Energy’s Lincolnshire sites, declaring “it’s time to ditch net zero”.Asked to respond to the revelations, Yates said: “I meet with people of many and varied views on all matters. I am a long-standing Republican supporter, always open and transparent with my political donations, as required by US law. We look to engage with policymakers and politicians of all persuasions to make the case for indigenous resources, which have clear security of supply, economic and environmental benefits compared to increasing reliance on imports.”Jenkyns and Greater Lincolnshire council representatives did not respond to requests for comment.