Shale explorer Cuadrilla will seek planning approval this month for an exploration well in northern England, a “milestone” in its efforts to bring the technology to the UK.
The firm will apply to drill, hydraulically fracture and test the flow of natural gas at as many as four exploration wells at its Preston New Road site, with a decision by Lancashire County Council expected within 16 weeks, the company said in a statement. It will apply a few weeks later for its Roseacre Wood site, it added.
The Bowland shale basin may hold as much as 1,300trillion cubic feet of gas, the British Geological Survey says. That’s enough to meet demand for almost 50 years at an extraction rate similar to US fields, experts claim.
“This application could be a really important milestone for Lancashire and the UK,” said Cuadrilla’s chief executive, Francis Egan.
The bid to develop fracking projects that release gas by blasting sand, water and chemicals at high pressure underground has raised concerns over polluted water supplies, earthquakes and greenhouse gas emissions.
Tremors triggered by a Cuadrilla well in 2011 led to an 18-month moratorium on the practice.