Cuadrilla has announced two of its subsidiaries are to cease trading.

Annual accounts for Cuadrilla South Cleveland Limited and Cuadrilla Gainsborough Limited, published this week, said the process had begun to dissolve the companies.

Cuadrilla South Cleveland was the operator of licences PEDL288 and PEDL346, both in East Yorkshire.

Cuadrilla Gainsborough operated licence PEDL276 in South Yorkshire.

All three licences had been awarded in the most recent 14^th onshore round in 2015 but had never established oil or gas sites.

PEDL276 had firm commitments to drill a vertical well, drill and frack a horizontal well and carry out new 2D and 3 seismic surveys.

PEDL288 and 346 had commitments for drill or drop wells and new seismic surveys.

All the licences reached the end of their initial exploration term in July 2024 without meeting these work programmes.

The industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority, refused an extension to the licence initial terms.

Both sets of company accounts said:

“Following a strategic review of the Company’s activities, the directors have made the decision to cease trading and commence the process of dissolving the Company.”

Annual losses

Eight Cuadrilla companies recorded a loss for the year ending June 2025.

Cuadrilla Resources Limited: £1,283,000 (2024: profit of £83,000)

Cuadrilla Resources Holdings Limited: £1,000 (2024: £nil)

Cuadrilla Balcombe Limited: £48,000 (2024: profit of £12,000)

Cuadrilla Bowland Limited: £695,000 (2024: £71,000)

Cuadrilla Elswick Limited: £474,000 (2024: £492,000)

Cuadrilla North Cleveland: £5,000 (2024: profit of £33,000

Cuadrilla South Cleveland: £1,000 (2024: profit of £41,000)

Cuadrilla Weald: £98,000 (2024: loss of £69,000)

The accounts of three companies recorded no profit or loss: Cuadrilla Elswick 2, Cuadrilla Gainsborough and Cuadrilla Well Services.

Accounts for Cuadrilla Bowland Limited did not refer to refusal of an extension of planning permission for the Preston New Road former shale gas site near Blackpool. The company was required to restore the site to farmland. It had operating expenses of £482,000 and a re-measurement of decommissioning provision of £231,000. The company did not report any cash at the end of the year. The accounts said the underlying shale resources “remains intact, waiting to be appraised and developed” if the moratorium on fracking were lifted in future. The accounts also said there was a “reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future”.

Cuadrilla Elswick Limited, which resumed gas production in October 2024, recorded revenue in 2025 of £34,000, compared with £1,000 in 2024. But its operating expenses were £513,000 in 2025, up from £454,000 in 2024. Cash at the year end was £155,000.

Net liabilities

10 Cuadrilla companies have net liabilities, ranging from £283,000 (Cuadrilla Elswick 2) to £111,436,999 (Cuadrilla Resources Limited).

Total net liabilities for these companies amounted to more than £215m.

Only one remaining company (Cuadrilla Resources Holdings Limited) has net assets (£29,000).

Reliance on parent and going concern

As in previous years, Cuadrilla companies confirmed they were reliant on the financial support of the parent company, the Australian mining group, A J Lucas (AJL).

The accounts confirmed that A J Lucas had provided a letter of support to 31 January 2027 to allow the Cuadrilla companies to trade and meet their liabilities as they fell due.

But the auditors, MHA, said:

“Whilst AJL has provided a letter of support indicating its intention to continue providing the necessary financial assistance to enable the Company to trade and meet its liabilities as they fall due, this is not a legally binding document, and therefore there is a material uncertainty as to whether the required financial support will be provided.”

MHA added this:

“indicates that a material uncertainty exits that may cast significant doubt on the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

“Low-cost presence”

Cuadrilla said:

“We continue to maintain a low-cost presence in the UK, with the objective of increasingly ‘self-funding’ that position whilst continuing to hold an option on a very significant discovered shale gas accumulation.”

Cash

No cash was recorded at the end of the year end for six companies.

These were: Cuadrilla Balcombe Limited, Cuadrilla Elswick 2, Cuadrilla Gainsborough, Cuadrilla North Cleveland, Cuadrilla South Cleveland, Cuadrilla Well Services.