Gas flares at Cuadrilla’s fracking site at Preston New Road near Blackpool, 2 November 2018. Photo: Cuadrilla Resources
Shale gas has flowed to the surface at Cuadrilla’s fracked well at Preston New Road near Blackpool, the company said this lunchtime.
The news, described by Cuadrilla as “significant” and “providing early encouragement”, follows its complaints earlier this week that rules on earthquakes caused by fracking were too strict and could “strangle” the UK industry.
The company has distributed a video showing the gas being burnt in a flare on the site.
The pro-fracking group, Lancashire for Shale, said the gas flow was a “real credit to the expertise and tenacity of Cuadrilla.”
The opposition campaign group, Frack Free Lancashire, said Cuadrilla was desperate to give investors some good news after fracking at Preston New Road had caused more than 30 earth tremors.
The company has been required to halt fracking twice because seismic activity exceeded the 0.5ML (local magnitude) red-light threshold.
Mr Egan had called for the 0.5ML limit to be raised to 2.0ML. But the energy minister, Claire Perry, said this would be “foolish” while the government was trying to “reassure people about safety”.
In an interview with the Times, Mr Egan said the company was not getting effective fractures and may not want to flow test.
But in a statement today, the company said flow testing on both wells was now planned for late 2018 and into the new year.
Mr Egan said today’s gas flow, though small, was indicative of the potential of shale:
“Considering that we are only at the very start of fracturing operations and, given operating constrains, have not yet been able to inject as much sand into the shale as we had planned, this is a good early indication of the gas potential that we have long talked about.”
“This Preston New Road site is being monitored to an unprecedented level. This initial gas flow is by no means the end of the story.
“However it provides early encouragement that the Bowland Shale can provide a significant source of natural gas to heat Lancashire and UK homes and offices and reduce our ever growing reliance on expensive foreign imports.”
The campaign group, Frack Free Lancashire, said in a statement:
“After the public relations disaster that Cuadrilla have suffered over the last three weeks, and the 25% crash in their parent company’s share price over the last 48 hours, Cuadrilla are clearly desperate to be able to give their investors some good news.
“However, it sounds as though they are now claiming that a small quantity of gas that returned when they had to depressure the well (after triggering both amber and red events) is somehow exciting news.
“We doubt that either their investors or the government are going to impressed by this last-ditch attempt to salvage something positive from a three-week series of unfortunate events.
“We look forward to seeing the associated data on the flow rate, which they will no doubt be publishing shortly.”
Shares in one of Cuadrilla’s investor, the Australian mining group, A J Lucas, fell sharply on 31 October 2018, the day of Ms Perry’s statement.
The Preston New Road Action Group, a resident’s group which opposed Cuadrilla’s plans through an inquiry and two court cases, last night welcomed the government’s decision not to relax the seismicity rules. It warned that it would challenge any move to raise the threshold in the courts. DrillOrDrop report
Lee Petts, chair of the pro-fracking group, Lancashire for Shale, responded to the announcement of the gas flow:
“This is fantastic news, and a real credit to the expertise and tenacity of Cuadrilla and its partners, proving that it is possible to safely recover gas from the rich shale deposits beneath our feet.
“Earlier this week, we saw three LNG cargoes land into the UK on the same day, two of which were fracked shale gas from the United States. There is no justification for remaining so reliant on imports of costlier, less secure and higher emission LNG from abroad when we are sitting on a vast untapped source of our own gas here in Lancashire.
“The news that Cuadrilla has been able to produce gas to the surface sets the scene for the future development of a successful new industry, and will be welcomed by the business community for the benefits it will bring to the local economy.”
Categories: Industry
DRILL OR DROP? 
Is there independent verification of the composition of the fracked gas? For instance of radon? Robin Grayson, Lib Dem Geologist
More importantly, has anyone verified whether the flared gas stack was connected to a gas bootle tank. You know one of those you use for ypur bbq burner.
Cuadrilla is such a flasher. They showed the flare for one minute and then switch it right off. That’s why I am a bit suspicious about this flare.
Well done Cuadrilla…
The Start of a whole new era of U.K Gas production and U.K self sufficiency not having to rely on foreign Nations to heat our homes and produce our electricity…
Taking responsibility for the energy we use in the U.K
In the coming years U.K Gas will heat our homes, cook our food and produce the lions share of our electricity.
No more Norwegian, Qatari, Dutch, American, Russian, Egyptian etc etc Gas required
Thank You…
Ruth you do rather devalue your reports by calling these mini-tremors “earthquakes”. A mini-tremor of 0.5 is significant but it’s mighty small; I’m told that a passing Blackpool tram generates an equivalent tremor of 0.4 Keep it real and more will likely take notice. D
Derek – I think you should direct your scorn at the British Geological Survey who refer to all of the seismic activity that has been monitored as “earthquakes”. I will look forward to you posting their response here when you have told them how little they know about the subject compared to you.
Re. keeping it real you seem to have missed the point here. Yes trams or fracking will produce their own seismic signature. The monitoring and traffic light system is set to detect small tremors which are above the level that the fracking itself will produce. Since even reduced intensity fracks are causing tremors, normal fracking intensity would produce tremors that are felt and likely to do damage.
Fracking shouldn’t be triggering these tremors, but is, presumably because someone is misreading the 3D seismic data and Cuadrilla is still drilling through faults.
I suppose those who have been stating that Cuadrilla would produce no gas will now apologise, or retreat in shame?
No, didn’t think so.
And those who missed the buying opportunity over the last few hours will have the weekend to get over it.
A great bit of PR on a Friday afternoon, knowing there is no time for verification of the reliability of this claim before the stock markets open in Asia on Sunday night. Like I have said all along its an International Ponzi scheme targeted at Australasia and Asia. Looks like I am right again, not that I ever doubted I would be [edited by moderator]
Cuadrilla only show the flare for one minute. Such a flash in the pan. But look like the gas does flow up (If someone can verify its flare stack is not connected to a gas bottle tank). Lol.
If you watch the video, that wasn’t enough gas to cook my tea, let alone power the country.
Research from the University of Cardiff has shown that it would take 6,100 wells to produce just half the gas we import, with the consequent impact on our countryside, health, road network and the climate. While we do of course still need gas for the foreseeable future, there is more than enough conventional gas around to satisfy our (falling) demand. We don’t need fracking, and we never will.
And for those interested in ‘energy security’, perhaps you might like to wonder why we currently export over 30% of all the conventional gas we produce? (see the DUKES report, industry figures). If ‘energy security’ was so important, why does the government allow this to happen?
Ellie, if there’s enough conventional gas around perhaps you could explain why two LNG tankers full of fracked gas from the USA arrived in the UK this week.
The total gas consumption in the UK (excluding exports, producers own consumption, and losses) were 76.9Bcm in 2016 and 74.5Bcm in 2017.
In 2016 total imports were 48.5 Billion cubic meters (Bcm) which fell by 1.6% to 47.7 Bcm in 2017.
In 2016 exports were 10.3 Bcm and rose by 10.8% to 11.4 Bcm in 2017.
Therefore, the UK’s net imports (imports minus exports) were 38.2 Bcm and 36.3 Bcm in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Even if Shale gas only reduces these import figures by 5-10% it will still have a significant beneficial effect on the UK economy and emissions.
Perhaps you should stop looking in that mirror Joseph? They had one in one of the fairy tales that produced the same-but it was still an illusion.
Martin the desperation of Cuadrilla to hang on to those 20 cent shares has made my weekend. The price will be 15 cents a share come what Monday morning UK time. The real criminals will have sold their shares within one hour of the markets opening come what Sunday. This was always the plan but not under these circumstances. The question is how much have [edited by moderator] (Cuadrilla) cost their masters, I do wonder though if the big boys will allow Fanny to get away with costing them so much dough!
You use gas to cook your tea Ellie???
OMG-are you sure it is not some of that from USA, produced from FRACKING?
Ooo the antis just lost big time with that announcement.
You GottaBKidding right?
No and stop looking like a goth and I’ll take you more seriously. Get out and about more and socialise with new people not just Google.