INEOS chairman Jim Ratcliffe has received private assurances from the SNP that it does not oppose fracking, he claimed yesterday.

The Switzerland-based billionaire said his business was given the nod earlier this year during private talks with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon — on the same day her party confirmed a moratorium on the damaging extraction process.

Mr Ratcliffe believes that an onshore shale gas industry could be operating commercially as early as 2018.