Cuadrilla Files Frack Request for 2nd Well

Cuadrilla said August 3 it has submitted an application for final hydraulic fracturing (fracking) consent for its second horizontal well in northwest England.

The shale gas explorer expects to start fracking at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire within the next two months; it said July 24 it received final consent to frack its first horizontal well there.

The second well, drilled through the Upper Bowland shale at a depth of about 2,100 metres sub-surface, extends laterally for some 750 metres through the shale gas reservoir and was completed in mid-July at the same Preston New Road site. Consent for final approval to frack a well must come from the UK government's Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

During the past week or so, other UK shale gas firms IGas  and Third Energy have given progress reports on their activities, but neither is as far forward as Cuadrilla. Nor is Ineos, which has one of the largest shale acreages in the UK but is primarily a chemicals manufacturer; Ineos did not provide an update on its shale activities in its second quarter trading statement on July 19.