Cuadrilla to Start UK Fracking Early October

UK shale gas explorer Cuadrilla expects to start hydraulically fracturing (fracking) the first of its two horizontal shale gas exploration wells at Preston New Road, Lancashire the following week, it said October 5.

The fracking process will last roughly three months for both exploration wells. The fracturing of the shale rock, over 2 km deep in the earth, will allow the shale gas to flow up the wellbore, and its rate of flow will be tested over six months, with initial results expected in 1Q 2019.

CEO Francis Egan said the fracking and testing would allow Cuadrilla to assess the site's commercial viability. He said Lancashire, in northwest England, had benefited to date from over £11mn of investment from Cuadrilla's exploration operations: "This investment will grow very significantly if we move from exploration into commercial production."

He said if the area can produce shale gas economically then it would "not come a moment too soon as we currently rely on imports for over 50% of the gas that we all need to heat our homes and offices and generate electricity... and provide an environmentally preferable alternative to importing gas over long distances by ship or pipeline or to burning coal to generate electricity.” It will also create jobs in the region, he said.

Cuadrilla completed the first horizontal shale gas well in April 2018 through the Lower Bowland shale rock about 2,300 metres below the surface and it extends for some 800 m. The second horizontal shale gas well was completed in July 2018 and has been drilled through the Upper Bowland shale at a depth of about 2,100 m below the surface, extending for some 750 m.

Cuadrilla fracked briefly in 2011 at a different site in Lancashire, but caused minor earth tremors prompting the UK government to introduce regulatory controls, including a system where fracking is halted if a greater than 0.5 magnitude tremor occurs. (Photo credit: Cuadrilla)