Page 7 - Euroil Week 34 2019

EurOil COMMENTARY EurOil
Cuadrilla prospects uncertain after record tremors
Vibrations have been recorded greater than those in 2011 that forced Cuadrilla to halt operations for seven years.
UK
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PROSPECTS look bleaker for Cuadrilla Resources, the UK’s first and only company exploring for shale gas, following a series of record-setting tremors at its hydraulic fracturing site in Lancashire.
A 2.9 local magnitude (ML) seismic event was detected by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in an area near Blackpool at 08:30 am on August 26. Cuadrilla has con rmed the tremor occured at its New Preston Road site. e quake was greater than the vibrations of 1.4-2.3ML connected with Cuadrilla’s activities in 2011, which forced it to halt operations until October last year.
Cuadrilla noted that no hydraulic fracturing had been taking place at the time, nor had been carried out over the weekend. The company stopped fracturing work on August 21 after recording a 1.5ML tremor, as required under UK regulations whenever vibrations of more than 0.5ML occur. It detected another tremor
measuring 2.1ML on the evening of April 24. Cuadrilla was cleared by the UK’s Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) earlier this month to launch hydraulic fracturing at its second well at the PNR site. It is targeting the Bowland shale, assessed by the BGS in 2013 to hold 1.3tn cubic feet (36.8tn
cubic metres) of recoverable gas.
e explorer nished fracturing work at its
rst well in February, with results con rming “a rich reservoir of recoverable high-quality gas.” However, it complained that the government’s 0.5ML cap on seismic activity had impeded work, as the company was only able to complete two out of 41 fracturing stages.
Hope fades
Hopes had been high that the government would loosen this restriction. In an August 15 message, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said it would consider reviewing the rules pending results
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Week 34 29•August•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
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