Graphic of drilling through an idealised shale rock layer. Source: Cuadrilla Resource In the past few years, the locations of geological faults and even whole rock strata have moved as we learn more about the geology below Cuadrilla’s Lancashire fracking site.
The British Geological Survey recorded a small earth tremor today near Cuadrilla’s fracking site on the edge of Blackpool. This follows three micro-seismic events yesterday.
Cuadrilla said this morning it had finished drilling the UK’s second horizontal shale gas well and would soon prepare for hydraulic fracturing at the site in Lancashire. The announcement coincided with news that a hose pipe ban for residents in the county would begin on 5 August.
Fracking near geological faults in former coal mining areas could trigger earthquakes and should not take place without careful assessment of all available geological data, according to one of the UK’s leading experts on the subject.
In this guest post, David Smythe challenges the interpretation of faults around the Horse Hill “Gatwick Gusher” oil site in Surrey. He argues that the results of flow tests at the well can’t be applied to the whole of the Weald of southern England and predicts there will […]
As Cuadrilla prepares to drill the UK’s first horizontal shale gas wells, research from a Scottish university suggests the country’s geology won’t support fracking.
The decision on plans by IGas to drill two shale gas exploration wells at Misson in north Nottinghamshire is now likely to be delayed for another three months.
