Cuadrilla’s proposed fracking site at Roseacre Wood. Photo: DrillOrDrop
Cuadrilla issued a statement this afternoon in response to the decision by the local government secretary, James Brokenshire, to refuse permission for the company’s drilling and fracking plans at Roseacre Wood, near Blackpool. Full details
A spokesperson for Cuadrilla said:
“We are naturally disappointed about the decision on Roseacre Wood and will examine the details in full before reaching a position.
“However, we continue to be focused on the shale gas exploration site in Preston New Road, where we have recently released very encouraging flow test results from the UK’s first horizontal shale gas well.
“Cuadrilla and its investors remain committed to this opportunity and the overall prize for the UK, which includes energy security, jobs and revenue for the country.
“These are all well within our grasp at Preston New Road and we seek to further prove this concept in the weeks and months to come.”
Categories: Industry
DRILL OR DROP? 
Hopefully now the long time red herring Roseacre Wood can drift away and take its infiltration on the people of the Fylde with it!
Time for bed Joe.
I am guessing contrition from the big C for repeatedly submitting such woefully poor traffic proposals will be unlikely.
Good news. Roseacre Wood was even more complex geologically than Preston New Road. I reported on the latter at the Ribby Hall meeting last Saturday, showing that Cuadrilla is persisting in its misunderstanding of the pre-Permian geology. A full and fresh re-interpretation of the entire geology within the bounds of its 3D seismic survey area is now required. This will take them several months. They should not be granted a permit for a hydraulic fracture plan for PNR-2 by the EA until they have done this.
Thanks David, i quite agree.
David, you can already see the ghost crop circles appearing within the cow paddock and more water issues. You can’t frack the Irish sea and the sooner Cuadrilla faces this fact the better. You don’t need to lidar scan the obvious, it’s openly visible on google earth. Why Defra, UU, EA, has not done more on these obvious area’s breaking down is beyond me. 600 meters from the 0.8 mag, it’s rather naughty, just shows what a circus it all is. Must be like a sponge down there. Water like stone does not lie & I think we can agree that the earth has spoken in Blackpool against the dirty industry.
David, the applicant was turned down regarding surface access issues, not on subsurface ones.
Of course I know that. Does your statement invalidate the complexity of the geology then?
David, ultimately the only way to prove the geology is to drill it, hence why exploration wells are drilled. I agree with the decision to refuse permission, based on the surface access issues, which is consistent with the original concerns made by the Planning Officer.
Dr Nick what are your thoughts on the operators decision to repeatedly appeal the application for this particular site?
Did you at anytime speak out publicly against this particular development or the operators attempt to bludgeon a rural community and the planning authority into submission to gets its way?
Crembule, I was not involved whatsoever in the appeal procedure. I was present at County Hall, & heard the Planning Officers concerns, & the councillors agreeing with the Planning officer about the surface access when the original decision was made to refuse Planning Permission. Clearly the applicant was within their rights to appeal, & provided potential solutions, which have not resolved enough of the original concerns.
If this planning application had been granted we may as well have torn up all planning manuals. It beggars belief how it ever progressed to this stage. Had it not been dismissed the ramifications would have been to allow wholly inappropriate development, which of course extends beyond fracking.
I think Cuadrilla should be challenged to provide an explanation about their comments regarding energy security because the government has formally stated that the country already has energy security for the next 20 years without the inclusion of any shale gas. And furthermore, the industry has admitted that even in a best case scenario fracking cannot give the UK energy independence and is only likely to replace around 50% of the UK’s current level of gas imports.
KatT, 50% of current gas imports is a huge amount of energy security. But without drilling & testing we will never know. Also, the government’s nuclear policy is in tatters – plus the changeover to electrified road transport & possible hydrogen & methane fuel cell deployment during the next 20 years – suggests we will need more gas, as well as more renewables.
The Government’s own analysis shows we are energy secure even in the most unexpected circumstances without trying to develop shale gas. And if shale gas was developed, it would not necessarily go into our grid. The fracking companies (offshore companies, remember) have made it clear that they will sell the gas wherever they get the best price. Ineos intends to use it to manufacture lots and lots more plastic – something our Government is trying to show it is clamping down on to save the environment. You really couldn’t make it up.
Clinch, if it was exported, it would not be as LNG, as that would add considerably to the price. It might be exported via pipeline through the Zeebrugge interconnector, but this too would add cost. NW England has high gas demand so it make far more economic sense to supply into that demand – either for industrial, domestic, or power generation use. With respect to plastics, the main issue is the way waste plastic is not being recycled/ reused. We will always need plastics. With regard to energy security. Of course we could import all our energy, to maintain energy security, but just imagine what that would do to our balance of payments? It would be all money out of our economy.
Nick, it strikes me that petroleum engineering and economics both share a common theme of material balance; clearly many opposed to fracking don’t have much of an understanding of this very basic concept.
We are already in the position that Qatar sends us gas and we give them a little bit of central London every so often.