Cuadrilla restarts Lancashire fracking

The Preston-based energy company has restarted its fracking operation at its Preston New Road site with work expected to complete in early November.

All the required permits have been secured to allow the company to begin fracturing its second horizontal well at the site, and gas flow results are expected in early 2020.

Earlier this month, the company wrote to Lancashire County Council to apply to change planning conditions at the site; the changes will allow drilling and fracking to continue into 2020.

Under the current timescale, the site will be decommissioned and restored by April 2023. Fracking first began in October 2018 after the company secured consent from the Government.

Laura Hughes, projects and operations director at Cuadrilla, said: “I am delighted to have resumed fracturing our second horizontal well and we look forward to sharing the results once flow testing is completed.

“As we have often said Preston New Road is one of the most monitored oil and gas sites anywhere in the world. We have proven it is a well-run, entirely safe and environmentally responsible operation. We also know there is a reservoir of recoverable high-quality natural gas beneath our feet that the UK needs if we are to reach net zero by 2050.

“The UK onshore shale exploration industry as a whole remains excited about the prospect of the Bowland Shale formation – estimated by the British Geologic Survey to contain some 1,300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.”

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