U.K. driller Cuadrilla halts fracking at Anna’s Road, Lancashire, over environmental concerns

U.K. driller Cuadrilla halts fracking at Anna’s Road, Lancashire, over environmental concerns by Energy Wire, March 15, 2013
U.K.-based company Cuadrilla has suspended activity at one of its three gas drilling sites until next year, pending the completion of an environmental assessment this fall. Work at the gas driller’s Anna’s Road site in Westby, Lancashire, ground to a halt under the missive Wednesday, which company officials claimed was not issued over safety concerns. The move came just a day after Lord Browne, Cuadrilla’s chairman and a former BP PLC boss, said he would invest whatever it takes to develop onshore shale gas in the United Kingdom. Anti-fracking activists applauded the decision to delay operations. Environmentalist group Friends of the Earth’s northwest campaigner Helen Rimmer said that locals should be “hugely relieved” that the company put its plans on hold but that the “fracking threat still looms over other Lancashire communities.”

Government ministers have warned Cuadrilla over performance concerns in the past, particularly regarding a 2011 incident in which the company waited six months to tell officials about damage to a fracking well after an earthquake. The integrity of the well was never compromised, so no gas reportedly leaked, although the site was shut down and reviewed a few weeks later after a second temblor shook the area.“My department is concerned Cuadrilla failed to recognize the significance of the casing deformation experienced in the earth tremor triggered by fracking operations on 1 April 2011,” said then-Energy Minister Charles Hendry in a letter to Browne dated May 11, 2012, recently released via a Freedom of Information request. He added that the “failure discloses weaknesses in Cuadrilla’s performance as a licensee, which need to be addressed.” Cuadrilla maintained it was not required to report the well casing issue as it did not pose an actual threat to the well’s reliability, but the ordeal raised questions about the company’s internal reporting procedures. An independent scientific report also concluded last April that Cuadrilla’s drilling activities in Lancashire caused the two small earthquakes. Cuadrilla has said its latest drilling postponement for Anna’s Road was not prompted by seismic activity, but it nevertheless marks a major setback for a company that has invested more than $150 million in U.K. gas plays over the past three years. Cuadrilla has licenses for 10 sites but has drilled in three and fracked at one. In a statement, Cuadrilla acknowledged it was not required to conduct an environmental impact assessment for its Anna’s Road development. “However, we have decided to spare no effort in meeting our exploration targets in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner and in full discussion with the local communities,” the company said (Harvey/Carrington/Macalister, London Guardian, March 13).

Cuadrilla delays UK Bowland shale work for environmental impact assessment by Paula Dittrick, March 14, 2013, Oil and Gas Journal
Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. plans to delay plans to start hydraulic fracturing in a Bowland basin shale project in Lancashire, UK, until 2014 to give the company time to get an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for some exploration wells, Cuadrilla Chief Executive Francis Egan said. At yearend 2012, the UK government lifted a moratorium on fracturing as part of the government’s effort to stimulate energy investments and reduce dependence on gas imports (OGJ Online, Dec. 24, 2012). The fracing mortarium was imposed while the UK government looked into events around a Cuadrilla shale-gas well near Poulton-le-Fylde (OGJ Online, Nov. 3, 2011). On Mar. 14, Egan said technical analysis indicates the 1,200 sq km license area holds at least 200 tcf of natural gas resources. “As we continue our exploration program, Cuadrilla proposes to broaden and deepen the scope of both community consultation and environment risk assessment by completing a full [EIA] for each exploration well site where we seek planning consent for drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and flow testing,” he said. Egan acknowledged that “within the complex UK regulatory framework governing planning this process can prove lengthy.” But he said Cuadrilla wanted to “spare no effort in meeting our exploration targets in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.” The company plans to modify a drilling application for an exploration well site at Anna’s Road, which has been under consideration by Lancashire County Council. The modification will include the EIA. “Subject to all necessary approvals, we intend returning to the site and completing work in 2014,” Egan said. “In addition, given the scale of the natural gas resource we have discovered and the potential it has to produce, Cuadrilla proposes to strengthen its exploration program by adding a number of additional temporary exploration sites during 2013 and 2014 to assess gas flow rates.” Cuadrilla will discuss each proposal with local communities and other stakeholders, he said. [Emphasis added]

Cuadrilla delays Lancashire fracking tests, Plans to carry out tests to extract shale gas by Cuadrilla, through a controversial process known as fracking, have been delayed by the Telegraph, March 14, 2013
Cuadrilla said testing at a site in Lancashire will not start until 2014, after earlier announcing hopes to begin in the middle of this year. The firm said explorations have already found the 1200 sq km licence area known as the Bowland Basin holds at least 200 trillion cubic feet of gas. Chief executive Francis Egan said: “An important next milestone for the exploration programme is to reach an estimate of what percentage of this very large quantity of natural gas in the ground could be recovered for use in generating electricity and heating our homes and workplaces. “As we continue our exploration programme, Cuadrilla proposes to broaden and deepen the scope of both community consultation and environment risk assessment by completing a full Environmental Impact Assessment for each exploration well site where we seek planning consent for drilling, hydraulic fracturing and flow testing. “We recognise that within the complex UK regulatory framework planning this process can prove lengthy but we are determined to spare no effort in meeting our exploration targets in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.” The firm has applied to Lancashire County Council to frack for shale gas at its Anna’s Road site in St Annes, near Southport. … Campaigners against fracking have voiced concerns about the contamination of waste once it has been used in the fracking process. Fracking was temporarily banned in the UK after it was blamed for two earth tremors in Blackpool in 2011, although a Government review found that fracking is safe if monitored. Greenpeace energy campaigner Leila Deen said: “This is another blow to George Osborne’s fracking plans. It follows energy experts concluding UK shale gas won’t bring down bills and growing local opposition across England, including in his own constituency . “People in Lancashire, some of whom are concerned about drilling directly under their homes, will welcome this reprieve. George Osborne needs to stop playing England’s JR Ewing and instead back the shift towards carbon free energy, which will create jobs and be cleaner, safer and cheaper over time.”

Fracking company Cuadrilla halts operations at Lancashire drilling site, News comes as it is revealed that Cuadrilla’s ‘performance as a licensee’ has previously been criticised by ministers by Fiona Harvey, Damian Carrington and Terry Macalister, March 13, 2013, The Guardian
A Decc spokesman said: “As part of our investigation, which included Cuadrilla’s report, it became clear there was an issue with Cuadrilla’s internal reporting procedures. This was discussed with the company, followed up through correspondence and the minister subsequently asked Lord Browne to meet him to discuss the issue. “The government was clear – we would not take a decision on the resumption of fracking until we were completely confident that fracking was as safe as possible.” Decc would not say when the meeting with Browne took place or what was discussed. Browne’s reply to Hendry’s letter on 25 May 2012 said the company had established a “clear policy that operational incidents judged to have a potentially serious impact on health and safety or infrastructure integrity will be communicated to Decc immediately, before testing whether such matters are indeed germane”. Within months Hendry had been sacked and replaced by John Hayes. Further correspondence released under an FoI request shows that he was emailed by Browne shortly after assuming office, saying: “We would be very keen for you to visit … the Cuadrilla drill sites.” Hayes declined that invitation, citing a full diary, but expressed willingness to visit at a later date and met Cuadrilla executives on 29 October 2012. In September 2012, the Guardian revealed that Cuadrilla had broken the conditions of its planning permission by drilling beyond an agreed time limit and beyond a cut-off date put in place to protect wintering birds. The cessation of drilling is another blow to Cuadrilla, which has so far invested more than £100m in the UK over the past three years but has so far fracked at only site. It was forced to shut down its fracking operations at the nearby Preese Hall site in May 2011 after two small tremors, later found to be caused by their operations. There has been no such seismic activity at Anna’s Road, where only drilling and not fracking has taken place. Preese Hall is the only shale gas site that has yet been fracked by the company, and work there has not yet been resumed. Cuadrilla has drilled but not fracked at one other nearby site. Friends of the Earth’s north-west campaigner Helen Rimmer said: “Fylde residents will be hugely relieved that Cuadrilla’s plans have been delayed, but the fracking threat still looms over other Lancashire communities. Ministers should pull the plug on environmentally damaging shale gas and develop the nation’s vast clean energy potential from the wind, waves and sun.” Cuadrilla said: “Cuadrilla is not required to carry out a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Anna’s Road at this stage. However, we have decided to spare no effort in meeting our exploration targets in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner and in full discussion with the local communities. That’s why we will complete a full EIA for each exploration well site where we seek planning consent for drilling, hydraulic fracturing and flow testing.” [Emphasis added]

[Refer also to: Fracking Community: Actions and Omissions Speak Louder than Words Jessica Ernst Frac Speaking Tour in UK and Ireland, March 2013

Fracking on the Fylde, Lancashire Interview with Jessica Ernst 7:35 Min. by Wave 965, March 7, 2013

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Investigation of Observed Seismicity in the Horn River Basin   

Seismicity in the Oil Field

Drilling method can be extended throughout UK, say experts, even though it has caused two earthquakes 

Drillers face first class-action suit for triggered temblors   

First Amended and Consolidated Class Action Complaint   

Raiding the homestead  

Alberta Plays Catch-up on Frack Front, Regulator acknowledges water risks ]

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