Cuadrilla’s plan to decommission its fracked wells in Lancashire is already behind schedule.
Last year, the company said the two wells at Preston New Road, near Blackpool, would be plugged and abandoning by March 2024.
But a new document, seen by DrillOrDrop, states the work will not start until this summer (2024).
Lancashire County Council has said it will raise concerns about the delay with Cuadrilla.
Hydraulic fracturing on both the Preston New Road wells caused small earthquakes. These included the UK’s strongest fracking-induced seismic event, measuring 2.9 on the local magnitude scale, in August 2019.
Fracking was immediately suspended at the site, which has been largely mothballed ever since.
The industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority ordered Cuadrilla to plug and abandon the wells by December 2024.
Decommissioning timeline
In June 2023, Cuadrilla secured a two-year extension to its planning permission for Preston New Road. The county council gave the company until June 2025 to decommission the wells, clear the site and restore it to farmland.
As part of its application, the company produced a timeline for the work, which showed that well plugging and abandonment would begin in September 2023 and take six months, to March 2024.
In September 2023, Cuadrilla repeated the March 2024 deadline, subject to rig availability.
But a recent progress update, required as a condition of the extended planning permission, stated that decommissioning was not now due to start for six-nine months.
The update was due on 7 December. Cuadrilla sent a letter to senior council planner, Jonathan Haine, dated 13 December. It said:
“Initial rig procurement has started with the intention to join a wider programme of wellbore abandonments across the UK with other operators. Work continues to co-ordinate the decommissioning programme, resources, and equipment with a target date of summer 2024 to begin abandoning the wellbores at Preston New Road.”
Mr Haine told local residents who asked about progress on the site:
“I have compared the information in the planning application and I have some concerns that they are behind the project timeline so I will be raising that with them.”
Jeff Turner, who lives near the Preston New Road site, said:
“Condition 14 [of the planning permission] states that Cuadrilla’s report be submitted no later 7th December. The letter is dated 13th December. Not a good start.
“Cuadrilla say they have a target date of summer 2024 to begin abandoning the well bores. This is very vague as “summer” is not a “date”. The LCC/2023/0002 Restoration Timeline shows the well decommissioning should have begun in September last year.“It seems to me that six months in and Cuadrilla are six months behind.
“It will be interesting to hear what response Jonathan Haine gets from them when he raises the issues with them, now he’s had best part of a month to digest the letter.”
Susan Holliday, of Preston New Road Action Group, which opposed Cuadrilla’s operations, said:
“It is good to see that Cuadrilla have provided an update as per the requirements of their planning extension.
“Over the last 6 months there has been little visible activity on the site as is evidenced by this update. Local residents are understandably concerned that once again procrastination will mean that key dates are not met.
“We hope that them working with other operators for the procurement of equipment will not lead to further delays.
“We will be watching for the commencement of removal of things such as the flare stack this summer, the wells plugged and abandoned by the end of the year and the site back to a green field by June 2025.
“None of this can come soon enough as it will be over 10 years since the planning application was first raised, a large chunk of peoples lives disrupted.”
Miranda Cox, of the campaign group, Frack Free Lancashire, said:
“We welcome the timely update and will be monitoring progress closely. The decommissioning work and necessary regulatory permits will take a significant number of weeks to obtain so Cuadrilla do not have a great deal of time to fulfil their obligations. We look forward to the next update in six months’ time.”
DrillOrDrop invited Cuadrilla to comment on the difference in the decommissioning timelines. We will update this article with any response. The company said in its update letter:
“It remains Cuadrilla’s intention to restore the site back to its original condition by 30th June 2025.”
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Categories: Regulation, slider, Uncategorized
DRILL OR DROP? 
Typical.
Frack on!
It was the 20th of October 2010 when Cuadrilla got their first planning application to frack in Lancashire. That application was passed unopposed. 13 plus years later not a drop of fracked gas in sight. You would think that with Cuadrilla’s claimed wealth of experience they would have had some success but that has proven to be incorrect.
https://planningregister.lancashire.gov.uk/Planning/Display/08/10/0973
‘Frack on’ is a little over hopeful. ‘Drag on’ would be more descriptive.
I can only imagine how embarrassing it must be to Lancashire County Council Planning authority for their officers to constantly have their imposed conditions breached time and time again.
Frack On! 🤣😂🤣
Locals note Cuadrilla’s repeated delays & procrastination.
Some believe that this is an attempt to maintain the site as an unplugged well, ostensibly as a ‘strategic reserve’, but in reality to placate oil & gas political donors, for as long as this party remains in power.
Best wishes to all for 2024.
Oh Dear Frank. Placating oil and gas donors? I’m sure AJL donate a lot! LOL.
If you want to find oil and gas donors just look at your energy bills over the last couple of years. Maybe “some” with a fat pension don’t need to but the rest of the country do. [Edited by moderator]
Meanwhile, I note planning has been approved for the largest UK hydrogen plant at Ellesmere Port. Perhaps “some” are thinking about where will the gas come from to fuel it, to produce the hydrogen. After all what could be better than supporting your local producer who can also contribute revenue to the locals and wider population through taxation and other forms of “generosity” and ending up with a clean energy source? Could only be Nimbys who object to that, and the other lot-who want to be in power-are going to exclude them from delaying development.
I wouldn’t worry Jack, about what you can “see”. From previous, what you can “see” are figments of your imagination, like the donated nuclear power stations from the French Government. In the shape of the Statue of Liberty, no doubt. They will indeed be supplied, but someone will pay for the something being done. Shame really that reality, the Laws of Physics and Arithmetic do come to the table, but they always do.
It really is amusing that the same few individuals who were doing their best to delay development are the same ones now whinging they want it faster. Surely, it is important that Cuadrilla make certain that all their wheels are fully washed before they even come within miles of the site?
With SINGLE shares worth less than SINGLE sheets of TOILET PAPER , I’d be very worried about AJ LUCUS GROUP , 96% owners in Caudrilla , endlessly kicking the can down the road .
I can see this one going BUST .
Although not all’s bad , whilst this DRAGS ON a handful of FAT CATS can continue to draw their huge salaries .
Haha MARTIN , more diversionary Collywaffle from you again 🤣
MARTIN , if the ” share certificates ” for this company were individually supplied to private investors on soft absorbant paper , I’d advise them to stock up , wouldn’t you????
It’d be a lot cheaper than buying toilet rolls
Except paper share certificates are as rare as pigeon’s teeth, Jack.
No need to blame me Jack, when you don’t understand something-it would just consume too much fossil fuel.
Just noticed US inflation has edged up, Jack. One of the reasons? Increased house prices! Obviously need to increase the fracking then Jack, inflation would fall and everyone happy bunnies. Must be true, as Jack has a link that indicates the solution.
Fat cats drawing huge salaries? Hmmm, like the ones in Tesla who had to repay $700m they overpaid themselves? I have heard of the biscuit expenses being inflated, even dubious appetites supplied, but $700m is an awful lot of either. Must be okay though, it was the green stuff.
MARTIN ,
That really is a shame , I’d of stocked up with individual share certificates myself in this company , could of saved a fortune on toilet paper .
Let JACK help you understand , the difference between Caudrilla ( AJ LUCUS ) and TESLA.
TESLA in a highly successful , multi £ billion company who has a share price of $227.22 per share
AJ LUCUS ( Caudrilla owners ) is a company with a share price of 0.013 AUD …. It’s true that individual sheets of TOILET paper are worth more..
So MARTIN , taking note of the above , which FAT CATS would you say are worth their money ??????
So Jack, you didn’t understand about paper share certificates. Okay, as you fail to understand about most things you post.
I don’t believe any FAT CATS who overpay THEMSELVES $700m whilst denying their staff Union rights to negotiate their own remuneration are worth ANYTHING Jack. It does seem some like the Danish Pension Fund side with my viewpoint. But, if that is your choice you can always ignore that and invest, and wait, and wait and wait………for any income. (Which makes me wonder why the DPF had them in their fund in the first place.) If you just wish to trade I hope you are able to do so without Mr. Musk making negative comments about his own product and causing the value of your investment to suddenly decline, as has happened previously. I would also suggest you are very careful about recent demand concerns that knocked $145B off the valuation. Was it a blip? Gamble away Jack, but don’t blame anyone else.
If you want something more secure, making a fortune-according to yourself-recommended by most analysts and paying out juicy income every quarter then there is always…………?????
Really surprised Jack you wish to sacrifice trees for toilet paper. The green alternative is there, pop out of your yurt, squat behind a rock and find a clump of grass.
Returning to the subject, I note no comment from the land owner being concerned about re-instatement of the site. I would have thought his concern, or lack of, would be paramount.
No MARTIN , YOU don’t understand share certificates.
Here’s a little information about share certificates…. In days gone by , they were ONLY available in paper format….. If only we could now get them issued on soft absorbant paper ( toilet ) ….. I’d certainly stock up with AJ LUCUS ( Caudrilla ) shares , we’d be on a right winner eh MARTIN
https://www.yourcompanyformations.co.uk/blog/a-guide-to-share-certificates/
Well the land owner has been on the take from Caudrilla , so they won’t give a HOOT what the local residents say or think … [Edited by moderator]
That being said , whilst it does drag on , it gives Caudrilla ( A J LUCAS ) time to keep selling this LEMON , of the UK Fracking dream to gullible , nieave investors in other parts of the world
Green hydrogen will have a place in replacing fossil fuels but hydrogen will not be playing a major role in heating homes. The gas companies saw producing hydrogen by gas for home heating as a future business model and a continued revenue stream for the gas network.
And a large, recent survey said the majority of those with heat pumps installed were highly satisfied with them and that includes those in older properties too. Installed properly and operated correctly, some still try to use them like a gas boiler, they are excellent. Despite what the Daily Mail says 😂
And yes, I do have a heat pump so do speak from experience. It was installed over 10 years ago and has been reliable, economical and kept me toasty.
https://news.sky.com/story/energy-minister-says-hydrogen-will-not-play-a-major-role-in-heating-homes-in-the-uk-13015509
Yes, I have a heat pump too, KatT. It works fine as supplementary heating to my gas boiler, although unlike my gas supply it reflects if there is not much heat outside it struggles to get the amount of heat I might like. Those blasted Laws of Physics again. It is on as I type this. The full blown heat pump system I would require I have had costed. I can not afford it. I am too busy paying out money to help my nearest and dearest with their high energy bills. None of them could afford such costs either. Where is that “someone else will pay” when needed? Strange how easy it is to crowd fund others, but the others don’t always reciprocate.
The energy support payments I have received I felt quite happy to receive KatT as I use quite a lot of the product from which the support came. I trust you did what a friend of mine did and donate to charity as she was a small user of the product from where the support came.
The hydrogen to be produced at Ellesmere Port is from gas. Don’t care what colour tag you plonk on it, the end point is the same, with clean energy. Surely, the end point is what will be important? Who will then use the hydrogen I await with interest. I suspect it may very well get into much of our transport as it is very easy to tax, much like Fuel Duty. (There is an awful lot of that to replace.) It also enables some normality of family life to continue, that includes the Friday night shop plus the fuel top up for the car that takes a couple of minutes and is enough through to the next Friday, without having to turn off lights, air con., heaters etc. Might just help the pot hole situation as well.
Green hydrogen may also come, but I suspect the majority of that in UK will come AFTER there is more nuclear to produce it reliably, off peak, than expecting unreliable sources to keep very expensive factories going. Mind you, looking at the way France has recently decided to focus upon even more nuclear and not on wind or sun, I would question whether they have the time to donate free any nuclear to us as well!
I did smile at your link to what a Minister stated! Strange how they can be the experts sometimes and idiots the rest of the time. I go for the precautionary approach, and accept they are idiots most of the time, remembering that all of the UK should be driving diesel vehicles if that was not the case, with much of the diesel coming from Russia and the (not so) “clean” diesels from Germany.
Snow on the way. Wonder what will be required if/when power lines are brought down?