Firm seeks first fracking consent

Cuadrilla has applied to the government for consent to frack the UK’S first horizontal shale gas well, the company said.

The well was completed last month at the firm’s Preston New Road site in Lancashire, with drilling through the shale at a depth of 2,700 metres below ground. Cuadrilla now needs the go-ahead from Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for hydraulic fracturing to commence.

Cuadrilla said it plans to be in a position to conduct fracking in the second half of this year.

The drilling of a second exploration well is nearing completion, Cuadrilla added. A similar application to the government for fracking consent at the second well will then be submitted.