Cuadrilla complains earthquake rules deter its fracking work

Fracking firm Cuadrilla complained on Wednesday that its work was being deterred due to the current UK rules and called for a review of strict regulations on earthquakes.

Cuadrilla, which is carrying out tests near Blackpool, is against the rule that forces the fracking companies to suspend their work if it triggers an earthquake that goes over the 0.5 level on the Richter scale.

The company said it had been unable to complete tests of a shale gas exploration well at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire. The company also claimed it was only able to fracture two out of 41 sections of the well it had targeted and had just injected 14% of the sand it had planned to insert.

On Monday, Ineos, the energy and petrochemicals company also complained about the UK’s fracking regulations and said they were “unworkable”.

Francis Egan, chief executive of Cuadrilla, said the company’s work in Lancashire had demonstrated that you “will not be able to adequately test, much less produce, from shale at these [seismicity] limits. It’s now for the government to decide how it wants to move forward with its own energy policy.”

He added: “Cuadrilla and its investors remain committed to this opportunity … All we ask now is that we are treated fairly, with comparable seismic and ground vibration levels to similar industries in Lancashire and elsewhere in the UK.”

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: “Cuadrilla have practically admitted that they can’t make fracking work under the safety rules they’ve been boasting about for years. If they can’t, then they shouldn’t.”