Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site near Blackpool, 5 August 2018
The shale gas company Cuadrilla, announced this morning it had received permission to frack its second horizontal well in Lancashire.
The company said the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) granted hydraulic fracturing consent today for the well at Preston New Road near Blackpool. 180919 Hydraulic Fracturing Decision for Preston New Road
The first well at the site received consent in July 2018. Cuadrilla said planning and environmental permits for both wells were already in place.
Last week, officers at Lancashire County Council approved the lighting plan for the hydraulic fracturing stage of the Preston New Road operation. This includes lighting for the 28m coiled tubing tower. Some campaigners and councillors had argued that this should have been decided by the council’s planning committee.
Francis Egan, chief executive of Cuadrilla, said the company was delighted to receive this second fracking consent.
“We are currently completing works on site in readiness to start hydraulically fracturing both wells in the next few weeks.
“The UK’s need for a new and reliable source of natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel, is underlined by a new report¹ suggesting the UK is going to have to rely on more coal to generate electricity. That would be a massive backwards step in reducing carbon emissions, as would continuing to import gas over long distances by pipe and ship.
“We are very proud to be the first operator in the UK to make significant headway in shale gas exploration.”
A spokesperson for Frack Free Lancashire said:
“It is unsurprising that the pro-fracking UK government have yet again, waved away the myriad of issues around fracking, and granted permission for Cuadrilla’s second well to be hydraulically fractured.
“The financial resilience of multi-million-pound losses Cuadrilla and their international backers is worrying, with recent reports that they have already burned through all of the funds Centrica gave them, and that’s even before they’ve managed to frack.
“The continual emerging climate, environmental and health evidence against fracking, and the increasing opposition – now including Conservative MPs who are threatening a rebellion against their own party on this matter – suggests that this industry is on a hiding to nothing, albeit an expensive one for them.”
Richard Marshall, a campaigner against Cuadrilla’s operation, said:
“Claire Perry shows utter contempt for the people who will suffer the consequences of fracking. Even members of her party agree that decisions on planning should be left to local authorities. She is totally ignoring all the evidence that says fracking will increase pollution and threaten water supplies. It is shameful that this government are putting people’s lives at risk.”
The Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, said:
“The fiasco of allowing fracking at Preston New Road has been an exercise in trampling over democracy and the wishes of local people.
“The Government is paving the way for a whole new fossil fuel industry just when we should be dramatically reducing our reliance on dirty energy. If they continue down this road, they’ll face a growing backlash in Parliament and across the country.”
Yesterday, another fracking company, Third Energy told the Yorkshire Post that it would not frack this year at its gas well at Kirby Misperton in North Yorkshire. The company is still awaiting hydraulic fracturing consent after BEIS ordered a financial resilience test. Fracking equipment was moved offsite in the spring. A spokesperson told the paper:
“We are not pushing the Government for final consent because don’t have the equipment available. We don’t know when it will become available.”
Categories: Industry
DRILL OR DROP? 
“The UK’s need for a new and reliable source of natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel, is underlined by a new report¹ suggesting the UK is going to have to rely on more coal to generate electricity 1” – Ruth – I wonder if you could get Mr Egan to confirm which report he is referring to here?
Surely it is not the recent report by Iain Staffel of Imperial College? That report actually tells us that these coal plants are running because gas prices have risen sharply and carbon prices have not kept up, making coal power stations more economic to run than gas-fired ones.
We would seem to be confronting a failure of government action here, not a need for yet another fossil fuel source.
Third rate Energy , what a joke if not so serious ,
“We are not pushing the Government for final consent because don’t have the equipment available. We don’t know when it will become available.” Maybe when you get out of debt ? Just a thought .
Quite appropriate connection on the day it is announced that inflation is on the way up again, mainly due to cost increases on energy, petrol and diesel, with significant eroding of real wage growth.
Will fracking make any difference? Who knows. But, at last, we might get a better picture of that rather than the fog of speculation and fabrication that has been rolled out over the last couple of years.
In respect of Third Energy, IMO this will not be allowed until PNR has done it’s thing. Politically, a slow testing roll out is much more easy to promote until it can be demonstrated that the Armageddon was a myth. And, of course, the sales value of Third Energy would only increase if PNR is a success!
Trust all those anti capitalists managed to acquire a few AJL shares recently.
“until PNR has done it’s thing”
Can this really be the man who was so gleefully correcting somebody else’s punctuation only yesterday? Did you buy that mirror then Martin?
Here you go https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/its-or-it-s . You’re welcome.
Actually refracktion, I was gleefully correcting someone who wanted to try and diminish what someone else had posted, by indicating they were superior.
Seems a common problem.
Have you sold that diesel vehicle yet refracktion?
Your anxiety is on view.
“someone who wanted to try and diminish what someone else had posted, by indicating they were superior.” – sounds like a perfect description of most of your posts on here Martin.
Why would I sell my diesel car? New, well maintained diesel vehicles have quite similar levels of particulate emissions to petrol cars and lower GHG emissions. It’s time you stopped stalking me and started worrying about the impact of the things you support on climate change old fella. 🙂
Cuadrilla is slow and unorganized in their planning and execution. They are bit like Tesla. Lots of hypes and controversy and burnt just as much cashes with nothing to show for its investors. And both are the poster child of two opposite camps.
The b….y brigade are pretty much finished. All their doomsday stories will be rightfully placed in the mythology section of the bookstore along with the green energy fiction.
Facts are what we need to concentrate on.
Peeny – it’s nice to see you back on Hot Copper again after your enforced “holiday”. Did you go anywhere nice?
Is there still no news on that damaged first well at Little Plumpton yet?!
Please could you provide some information regarding “that damaged first well at Little Plumpton”
Thanks
Dear Lock The Gate Lancs. The independent report can be found here. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48330/5055-preese-hall-shale-gas-fracturing-review-and-recomm.pdf On page 2 it says “9. Though some casing collapse was found in the lower reservoir section, well integrity has not been compromised”.
Wonder how financially resilient they will be when they’ve spent all that money to fix the leaking membrane and paying for all the water tankers
Third Energy waiting to see which way the wind is blowing….renewables mate. Stop trying to flog a dead horse. Get your head out the sand and get into solar and wind. The Government is facing defeat over permitted development as it becomes clear fracking will never come close to meeting either our energy needs or community consent, and the industry cannot stand the close scrutiny they get on our densely populated island. The only question now is how many days before Cuadrilla INEOS etc throw in the towel and admit defeat.
But, yours isn’t new, is it-unless you sold it and replaced with another more recently, because we have been chatting about this for a long time! Wasn’t it you who indicated who was “really” to blame (not you) for the decision? And he hasn’t been around for a long time.
Which measurements-the VW ones? Seem a bit hung up on fossil fuel. Not a fan of what you advocate?
Come on old chap. You have had years preparing for this day helping to produce a fog of fake news about marketing, just for starters, and you now have the opportunity to bring out the final, last stand, edition. Can do better, surely? Or is it that facts are about to overtake fiction and the narrative hits the buffers?
No, I’m not stalking you, but have noticed how you appear so rapidly when there is major, difficult news for the antis to counter. Almost as if you have been allocated that function, so only natural our paths cross. I’m just around when you happen to appear.
Martin old thing, I’ve been driving diesels for a while now – the government did promote them quite heavily as better for climate as we hae previously discussed. The older models are problematic as regards particulate emissions but any modern diesel is fitted with particulate filters that reduce PM emissions by about 90%. Do you really not know this stuff?
Your ramble in the middle lost me after a few words of collyerwibble. If you can translate it into English we can try again.
But darn you, you pesky varmint! You have caught me out as Russia’s local agent on DoD. I will now have to return to Moscow to face the wrath of Vladimir.
хороший старый мальчик