UK Fracking Falls Under Scrutiny

With the French National Assembly voting to ban the use of hydraulic fracturing in the exploration of unconventional resources, emboldened environmentalists in the UK are taking aim at Cuadrilla Resources, at present the only enterprise undertaking 'fracking' in the country.

The UK arm of the WWF called on the government to follow the lead of the French and institute a moratorium on shale gas production, given current environmental concerns around shale gas extraction.

Cuadrilla's Chief Executive Mark Miller found himself defending the company in the pages of the Financial Times. In a letter introduced by the title Shale Drilling Would Blight Europe's Green Lands, John Westwood, took aim at shale gas and  "its problems, real and perceived."

Miller said that Westwood, who is Chairman, Douglas-Westwood International Energy Business Advisors, overstated the “industrial scale” impact of onshore drilling for natural gas from shale across Europe.

The Cuadrilla executive wrote that "onshore drilling is akin to today’s modern medical keyhole surgery. We use downscaled drill equipment and while we may go down 9,000 feet, the hole required is just 9 inches wide. We can drill a dozen wells from a single pad 70 metres by 100 metres, which is akin to the size of a local football pitch."

Miller also addressed the widely held view that  fracking fluids are a toxic brew.  He stated that "in reality they are almost all water and sand, in our case 99.75 per cent water and sand. We add two or three additives to help maintain the purity of the water and to reduce friction as the fracture takes place."

Cuadrilla is seeking shale gas in the Bowland shale. It has drilled two wells in the vicinity of Blackpool: the first at Preese Hall and the second at the village of Singleton.

The Presse Hall well reportedly reached a depth of 7,500ft, and hydraulic fracturing operations have been undertaken.  A recent earthquake in the area temporarily suspended operations at the site and some opponents to drew linkage to Cuadrilla's underground activities. (Read More HERE).

Unconventional gas activities in Wales are also under scrutiny.

South Wales firm Coastal Oil and Gas together with Australian Eden Energy, have made application for permission to conduct exploratory drilling about 700m below the surface in part of the rural Vale of Glamorgan.

Coastal has revised an initial application to take into account noise disturbance after resident's concerns mounted when the South Wales Echo revealed that drilling would take place about 500m from the nearest homes, 24 hours a day for up to seven weeks.

Council officers had recommended a planning application be given the go-ahead, saying while the potential environmental impacts of gas exploitation would require “very careful consideration” of any subsequent planning application, it would be “unreasonable” not to permit the single exploratory borehole.

Concerned about the future possibility of hydraulic fracturing, residents of Llandow have launched a grass-roots campaign to stop the planned drilling.

Further Reading: An opponent's view on shale - writing for The Independent, noted left wing columnist and environment critic Johann Hari, takes Prime Minister David Cameron to task in the article Up In Flames: Cameron's pledge to lead the greenest government ever HERE