Cuadrilla makes advances at Preston New Road fracking site

Fracking firm Cuadrilla has announced positive test results from exploration drilling at its Preston New Road site, as the Court of Appeal rejected protests against its work there.

The company has completed the drilling of a vertical pilot well to a depth of over 2.7km through both the Upper and Lower Bowland shale rock intervals at its shale site in the parish of Westby-with-Plumptons, in the Fylde.

In the most comprehensive data set recovered to date from any shale well drilled in the UK, some 375 feet of core samples were taken across three separate intervals, which found excellent rock quality for hydraulic fracturing and a high natural gas content in several zones within the shale.

This is in line with the British Geological Survey, in association with the Oil & Gas Authority, independent report in 2013, The Carboniferous Bowland Shale Gas Study, which estimated a mid-level estimate of the gas-in-place in the Bowland shales across the North of England to be 1,329 trillion cubic feet.

Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla, said: “We are very encouraged by our early analysis of the data and confident that there is a very sizeable quantity of natural gas in the Bowland Shale. In addition we can confirm that the rock composition is very suitable to hydraulically fracture. This give us great confidence as we start drilling what will be the first horizontal well drilled into UK shale rock.”

A Lancashire For Shale spokesperson added: “It’s fantastic to hear that these early results look so promising. A successful Lancashire shale gas industry depends first of all on the presence of gas in the ground, and secondly on the ability for it to be recovered to the surface.

"It sounds as though Cuadrilla has encountered a significant quantity of gas, and so we look forward to now seeing if it can be made to flow at rates that make future production commercially viable.”

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal led by Lord Justice Simon, Lord Justice Lindblom and Lord Justice Henderson, has dismissed two claims made against the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government regarding Sajid Javid’s decision to grant planning consent for shale gas exploration at the site.

The Court of Appeal has also refused permission for the parties to appeal at the Supreme Court.

Francis Egan added: “We are very pleased that the Court of Appeal has robustly dismissed both challenges on all the grounds presented, as well as dismissing requests for further appeal. "The same challenges were previously dismissed by the High Court in a similarly detailed judgement made in April 2017. We have always remained confident that that the planning consent would stand, particularly after such a lengthy and thorough review of the application and positive recommendations for approval by both the professional Planning Officers at Lancashire County Council and subsequently an experienced Planning Inspector."