Cuadrilla to resume English gas-shale work

Cuadrilla Resources Ltd will resume hydraulic fracturing and flow testing at its Lancashire site in Preston New Road near Blackpool and seek relief from low seismicity thresholds.

The company suspended operations last December after a 1.5 magnitude tremor, strong enough to require it to halt work under UK “traffic light” regulations but well below the level which might cause superficial surface damage.

The company is hydraulically fracturing and flow testing two horizontal wells drilled into the Carboniferous Bowland shale.

In a press release, Cuadrilla said the work, expected to resume in the third quarter, will provide the government more data “to justify an expert technical review of the current exceedingly low limit on induced seismicity, allow for this to be brought into line with other UK industries such as quarrying, construction, and geothermal.”

From its experience with the first well, PNR-1z, Cuadrilla has developed plans to use a more-viscous frac fluid in the PNR2 well, which it expects “will improve operational performance under the uniquely challenging microseismic regulations.”

Source: Oil & Gas Journal