Going with the fracking flow
It has been a long and difficult road. Shale gas giant Cuadrilla’s bid bring fracking to rural Lancashire has been subject to years of hold ups and delay.
There have been heated political debates, fierce local protests, planning battles and courtroom clashes along the way.
Cuadrilla announced earlier this month plans to start hydraulically fracturing the shale rock around the first of its two horizontal shale gas exploration wells at its Preston New Road site, near Blackpool.
Even then that wasn’t the very end of the matter, with a local campaigner launching an unsuccessful 11th hour legal challenge in the High Court.
Cuadrilla says the hydraulic fracturing process at Preston New Road will take around three months to complete for both exploration wells.
The fracturing of the shale rock, over 2km deep in the earth, will release the natural gas in the shale to flow up the wellbore to the surface.
Cuadrilla’s chief executive Francis Egan says: “The start of hydraulic fracturing is the final milestone in the journey to assessing the flow rates of natural gas from our Lancashire shale exploration wells.”
That flow rate will be tested over approximately six months with initial results expected in the first quarter of next year.
It will give the business an initial assessment of how much natural gas is likely to be recoverable from these first Lancashire shale wells.
Egan explains: “This will allow us to make an assessment of the commercial viability and future of this exploration site.
“Lancashire has benefited to date from over £11m of investment generated by our exploration operations. This investment will grow very significantly if we move from exploration into commercial production.”
If the initial results are successful, Cuadrilla will look to develop the current site into production, which would mean the need to submit a new planning application and also apply for new environmental permits.
Egan is confident that the results will demonstrate that Lancashire can play a big role in safely providing a new source of natural gas for the UK.
And he adds: “This cannot come a moment too soon as we currently rely on imports for over 50 per cent of the gas that we all need to heat our homes and offices and generate electricity.
“Producing natural gas from shale will generate investment and new jobs and provide an environmentally preferable alternative to importing gas over long distances by ship or pipeline or to burning coal to generate electricity.”
The potential could be huge. A reserve of 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas is estimated to be sitting underground on both sides of the Pennines.
Egan estimates that Cuadrilla will have spent around £50m on the project by the time the test results are received. And he adds: “About 20 per cent of this spend will be in Lancashire.”
He believes the industry has massive potential. He points to a 2014 EY report that a successful UK shale gas industry could be responsible for a supply chain spend of over £33bn and the creation of over 64,500 jobs at peak – though fracking opponents question those figures.
Egan says: “A domestic shale gas industry would bring significant investment across the North of England, particularly in our home county of Lancashire.
“The £10m of investment in Lancashire to date and more than 60 local jobs from just two horizontal exploration wells is merely a down payment on what a successful shale industry could bring.”
Egan says the company is committed to maximising the jobs potential in the county and providing local companies with first-mover advantage as it continues to lead the way on UK shale exploration.
He adds: “There is no good reason why Lancashire can’t be the skill centre of an emerging UK shale gas industry in the same way as Aberdeen has taken prime position as the ‘HQ’ for offshore North Sea oil and gas production.”
Opponents of shale gas extraction have been vocal and determined. Asked if he thinks the opposition will continue, Egan says: “As we demonstrate that Lancashire shale gas can be safely and sensibly developed in the county to supply local homes and businesses, we are confident that more people will understand the benefits a new indigenous source of natural gas can bring not just to the country but the UK as a whole.”
He adds: “Over the next decade we plan to demonstrate that the UK’s shale gas resource can be safely developed and can help Britain achieve its climate change commitments.
“Domestically produced and regulated shale gas production would have lower C02 emissions than imported liquefied or long distance pipeline natural gas.
“It would also provide greater energy security for the UK, while creating local jobs, heating local homes, delivering an energy supply for local businesses and generating much-needed tax revenues for the country.”
Lee Petts, chairman of the pro-fracking Lancashire For Shale group, says: “Getting to this point has been a long and winding road at times, but worth it. Every ‘T’ has been crossed and every ‘I’ dotted, meaning that there is no reason why fracking for shale gas cannot now proceed.
“We look forward to receiving positive reports of commercial gas flows in the new year. In the meantime, we will continue to educate n businesses about the supply chain opportunities and energy security benefits that a successful Lancashire shale gas industry will one day bring to the county.”
