Oklahoma has signed a bill into law which means cities and coutnies will no longer be allowed to ban fracking within the US state.
The move means the process of hydraulic fracturing and other oil and gas operations will be prohibited in towns and cities.
It comes after a similair bill was also signed into law in Texas last month.
Cities and towns will not be able to ban operations including drilling, water disposal, recovery operations and fracking.
Oklahoma’s Governor, Mary Fallon, said:”Corporation commissioners are elected by the people of Oklahoma to regulate the oil and gas industry.
“They are best equipped to make decisions about drilling and its effect on seismic activity, the environment and other sensitive issues.
“The alternative is to pursue a patchwork of regulations that, in some cases, could arbitrarily ban energy exploration and damage the state’s largest industry, largest employers and largest taxpayers.”
According to research, earthquake activity in Oklahoma was 70 times greater in 2013 than it was five years previously.
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