Shale gas drilling could bring 1,700 jobs to Lancashire, says report

CUADRILLA Resources has said drilling projects at its shale gas reserves could bring up to 1,700 jobs to Lancashire over the next 10 years.

A report produced for Cuadrilla by Regeneris Consulting states that the total number of jobs its drilling projects could sustain is around 5,600 across the UK as a whole. The estimates have been based on the assumption that the company will drill around 400 wells.

Darren Wisher, director at Regeneris, said: “What’s important is the nature of the jobs. Although there will be a raft of entry-level positions, with work in well preparation as well as haulage for example, there is also a share of  highly skilled positions, for geologists and skilled engineers, for example.”

He added that the average salary for anticipated jobs would be around £55,000.

Cuadrilla Resources started testing for gas within its license base on the Fylde Coast in March, using a technique known as fracking. The gas is found in shale formed from deposits of mud, silt, clay and other organic matter.

The company today announced that it has found 200 trillion cubic feet of ‘gas in place’ but that it could not yet estimate how much of that gas would be recoverable reserves.

Paul Kelly, executive director at Cuadrilla, told TheBusinessDesk that to establish the crucial figure of how much gas could be extracted, it would need to drill five to seven exploratory wells across its license base and run production for two to three months. He added that figure would probably be known a year from now.

However, the process is controversial, with opponents claiming that the subsequent release of gas can be dangerous and cause illness.