Key equipment was installed today to decommission Cuadrilla’s fracked shale gas wells and work is expected to start imminently.

The coiled tubing unit has been delivered to the Preston New Road site near Blackpool and the rig is expected to be assembled within days.

Under the terms of its planning permission, Cuadrilla was required to give seven days’ notice of the start of plugging and abandonment work. A spokesman for Lancashire County Council told DrillOrDrop:

“Cuadrilla gave Lancashire County Council seven days’ formal notice on February 20 that decommissioning work is due to start.

“A crane is on site now at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site for use in assembling the rig. Cuadrilla previously stated that they expected the rig to arrive in sections in the second half of February. The works are due to begin imminently and are expected to take around six weeks.”

DrillOrDrop reported last year that Cuadrilla had missed the 8 December 2024 date, set by the planning permission for completing the plugging and abandonment works.

The council spokesperson said:

“Lancashire County Council will monitor the progress over the next few weeks to make sure that works are continuing.”

This week, temporary buildings will be brought onto the site for workers accommodation, the spokesperson said.

The next planning deadline facing Cuadrilla is 8 June 2025 to fully restore the site to farmland. At the time of writing, this was 102 days away.

Deadline extension?

Cuadrilla was also ordered to plug and abandon the Preston New Road wells by the industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).

Under a formal notice, the NSTA said the wells must be decommissioned by 30 December 2024. Like the planning deadline, this was missed by Cuadrilla. But there are suggestions that the NSTA may have recently extended the deadline.

Cuadrilla’s parent company, the Australian mining group, A J Lucas, said in a half-year report yesterday:

“In August 2023 the UK business received notice from the Regulator requiring plug and abandoning of the two Preston New Road (PNR) shale gas exploration wells by the end of calendar year 2024. In December 2024 that deadline was extended by the Regulator to end June 2025. We are putting plans in place to comply with that instruction.”

DrillOrDrop asked NSTA if the deadline had been extended, when and why. A spokesperson said:

“We don’t comment on individual cases and, therefore, are not able to supply answers to your questions.”

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