UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is being urged to relax the limits on earthquakes caused by fracking as part of plans to kickstart an energy revolution.
She is already poised to end the moratorium on fracking south of the border within days in a bid to make Britain energy independent by 2040.
But companies say this alone will not be enough to unlock Britain's potentially-vast shale gas reserves.
The Telegraph understands fracking businesses are lobbying for the limits on seismic activity to be substantially increased to help kickstart the industry.
Current rules require drilling to stop if it causes tremors of 0.5 or more on the Richter scale.
Experts say tremors at this level occur naturally and often, at a magnitude so low it is imperceptible to people above ground.
The current limit blocks any realistic possibility of exploiting shale resources commercially.
Parity sought
Fracking companies want parity with other industries - for example geothermal energy, which is allowed to create earthquakes of higher magnitudes than 0.5. In the US, fracking-related tremors of up to 4-magnitude are allowed.
According to the Royal Society, tremors of up to magnitude 2 are not generally felt by people above ground and fracking is not expected to cause tremors of more than magnitude 3.
A report by the society in 2012 said fracking would be less disruptive than coal mining had been historically.
It said magnitude 3 tremors were typically "felt by few people at rest or in the upper floors of buildings - similar to the passing of a truck".
However, when Cuadrilla's test operations in Lancashire caused a magnitude 2.9 tremor three years ago, residents nearby complained that their homes had been shaken, with some saying objects had fallen off of shelves.
Professor Richard Davies, a leading petroleum geologist at Newcastle University, said fracking had thus far "not been a major source of earthquakes" and that coal mining had caused "many times more".
He said the question of whether the UK's resources were commercially exploitable remains unproven, but that restrictions on seismic activity prevented "a proper test".
Approve projects
Fracking companies are also pushing for the Government to give ministers the power to approve projects south of the border, instead of local councils, by designating them as "nationally-significant infrastructure".
One source told the Telegraph this was "the only way we will ever get gas out of the ground and into people's homes and the only way people will get money off their bills from industry".
"The focus must now be on making sure this process isn't unnecessarily held up," they added.
Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, involves shooting a mix of water, sand and chemicals at rocks underground to retrieve the hydrocarbons trapped inside them.
In the US, it is credited with unlocking a lucrative shale boom that reshaped global markets and helped America achieve energy independence.
Earlier this year, billionaire businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe handed UK ministers research that suggests Britain's shale gas reserves could bolster the domestic energy supply for 50 years.
But, at the end of 2019, the Scottish Government set out a finalised policy of no support for unconventional oil and gas (UOG) development, which includes fracking.
Scottish position confirmed
The then Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse confirmed this position following evidence-gathering and consultation, including environmental and business assessments.
He also set out the factors which led to this decision, including the incompatibility of UOG development with climate-change policy.
The Scottish Government said it will not issue licences for new UOG development, and that Scotland's planning framework will not support development using UOG extraction techniques.