YOU may have thought fracking row was over following the end of test drilling in Balcombe and the disappearance of protesters last year as they rolled up their tents. You would be wrong.

A report from the British Geological Survey revealed that there could be more than eight billion barrels of shale oil under the Weald basin which covers part of Sussex, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire.

Now a new campaign called We Need to Talk About Fracking is holding a series of five meetings in different parts of Britain this month.

Scores of celebrities including actors and authors have banded together to oppose fracking, saying it is destructive and dangerous.

Fracking involves pumping sand, water and chemicals into rocks deep underground to release the oil and gas.

Proponents say the discovery in the Weald could produce enough energy to suit Britain’s needs for the next 40 years.

They point out that in the USA, the use of fracking has released huge quantities of oil and gas, creating thousands of jobs and revitalising the economy.

Opponents say the process can contaminate water supplies and produce earthquakes. They want fuel to be derived from renewable resources.

There is certainly a need for a national debate on fracking to sort out fact from fiction. Already some facts are becoming clear.

Eight billion barrels of oil may lie under the Weald basin but only a small proportion of it will ever become even potentially available.

Many owners will not want drilling on their land and protesters will deter firms from using several sites if they arrive in the numbers seen at Balcombe.

It seems that little or no gas will be available in Sussex, a big disappointment to the companies as it is far more lucrative than oil.

Even more daunting is the prospect that much of the oil below ground in Sussex is tightly bound to rock and particularly hard to free.

It is also likely that if any oil can be freed at a reasonable cost, fracking need not necessarily be involved.

Oil exploration is not new in southern England. The Wytch Farm oilfield in Dorset, the largest on shore site in Western Europe, has been operating for more than 40 years and many people do not even know it is there.

There are also several sites in Sussex which have been used for oil in recent years such as those at Storrington and Singleton. They are well screened and quiet.

Readers may remember rows in East Sussex more than 30 years ago over oil reserves said to be in abundance, particularly below the picture-postcard village of Ditchling.

Permission to drill was given despite protesters saying that the Downs would be turned into some homespun version of Dallas. But in the event no oilfield was ever established.

It is worth listening to knowledgeable sceptics such as the energy expert Lord Stern.

Government ministers from David Cameron downwards are bound to be keen on a home produced source of energy but need to get their case put fairly and squarely during the forthcoming fracking debate.

I remember the Ditchling debate well. It was tied in with a larger examination of reserves similar to that about to be held today.

At that time environmental activism was only in its infancy and the opposition was very much locally-based.

The trouble for the energy companies is that any reserves of oil and gas are below one of the most crowded parts of a crowded country.

Residents tend to be rich and resourceful. They will present formidable opposition to fracking and, as at Balcombe, they will be joined by environmental activists from all over the country.

My guess is that fracking will never take place in Sussex and that opposition will be so great the companies will not be able to establish oil wells even in corners of the county where they would cause little if any trouble.