Cuadrilla, the company seeking to produce shale gas in the UK, said it was “ready” to frack a second well at a site near Blackpool, despite admitting previously that it was impossible to work within current rules governing the industry. Time is running short for the private equity-backed company because its planning permit for the site at Preston New Road in Lancashire, north-west England, expires at the end of November. Cuadrilla has already partially fracked one well at the site – a process that involves pumping water, sand and chemicals under the ground at high pressure to release gas from rock formations. However, it could not complete tests of the exploration well after it was forced to suspend work on a number of occasions last year when it triggered earth tremors exceeding 0.5 on the Richter scale. A “traffic light system” that governs the industry dictates that work must be paused if earthquakes reach that level or above.
FT 19th April 2019 read more »
Cuadrilla looks likely to miss the planning deadline to frack its second shale gas well at Preston New Road, in Lancashire, correspondence has revealed. In a letter to the regulator, the Oil & Gas Authority, the company called for a review and revision of the rules on fracking-induced seismicity by the end of March 2019. Meeting this deadline would allow “further exploration wells to be safely and effectively hydraulically fractured and tested within the 2019 planning approval window”, Francis Egan, Cuadrilla’s chief executive said. The letter, sent to the OGA chief executive, Andy Samuel, in December 2018, was seen by the Financial Times and released in response to Freedom of Information request. A condition of Cuadrilla’s planning permission requires drilling and fracking four wells at Preston New Road to be completed by the end of November 2019.
Drill or Drop 20th April 2019 read more »