Cuadrilla Completes UK's Second Horizontal Well

UK shale gas explorer Cuadrilla said July 17 it has completed drilling the UK’s second horizontal shale gas well.

The exploration well at its site at Preston New Road, near Blackpool in Lancashire, was drilled to about 2,100 metres below the surface and extends laterally through the Upper Bowland shale for some 750 m.

The first horizontal well was completed by Cuadrilla in April through the Lower Bowland shale rock at about 2,300 m below surface and extended some 800 m (the drill rig for that well is shown in the banner photo above, courtesy of Cuadrilla). A vertical pilot well drilled in 2017 showed where these first two horizontal wells would be drilled.

Cuadrilla CEO Francis Egan said that, subject to hydraulic fracturing consent being granted by the UK government, the company plans to fracture the shale rock around these wells in the coming months and test the flow rates to see if commercially viable quantities of shale gas can be produced. “In the process we look forward to demonstrating that the UK’s huge shale gas resources can be safely produced and make a major contribution to improving the UK’s energy security, whilst reducing our gas import needs and providing economic and environmental benefit,” he added.

Over the next few weeks the rig will be dismantled and shipped back to mainland Europe, and then the site team will prepare for fracking. Much of the required equipment is already on site, said Cuadrilla. Following fracking of the first two horizontal wells, Cuadrilla will run an initial flow test of both wells for about six months, which means it will be early 2019 before commerciality can be determined.

Last week a High Court ruling extended the validity of Cuadrilla's injunction against certain protesters around its site until June 1 2020.