First Shale Gas from UK PNR Site

Cuadrilla has announced that it has begun to see natural gas flow to the surface from its shale exploration well at the Preston New Road (PNR) site.

The company described the news as significant.

“The volumes of gas returning to surface at this stage are small. However considering that we are only at the very start of fracturing operations and, given operating constrains, have not yet been able to inject as much sand into the shale as we had planned, this is a good early indication of the gas potential that we have long talked about,” Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla, said.

“This initial gas flow is by no means the end of the story. However it provides early encouragement that the Bowland Shale can provide a significant source of natural gas to heat Lancashire and UK homes and offices and reduce our ever growing reliance on expensive foreign imports,” he added.

Cuadrilla started hydraulic fracturing operations at its PNR shale gas exploration site last month. A last minute request for an interim injunction to prevent fracking operations from starting at PNR was dismissed at the High Court in London on the 12^th October.

In July Cuadrilla had announced that, as at the 25^th July, over US$13 million (£10 million) had been invested into the local Lancashire economy by Cuadrilla’s PNR shale gas exploration operations.

Cuadrilla currently has eight sites, including PNR, in its Lancashire Bowland shale gas exploration licence area, according to its website.

The company states on its website that it believes “at least” 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is trapped in the shale rock in its licence area.

Source: Rigzone