Fracking gets green light despite risk of quakes

EXPLORING for gas using ‘fracking’ can continue safely even though it is likely to cause further earthquakes, a Government-commissioned report says.

The technique of hydraulic fracturing is used to extract gas from shale rocks – potentially easing the country’s energy problems.

Work was suspended a year ago by the firm Cuadrilla Resources following two small earthquakes at its site in Lancashire.

While the report says these quakes were caused by the drilling, it concludes that further tremors would not be big enough to cause damage because they would not exceed three on the Richter Scale.

Cuadrilla believes there could be enough shale gas at the site to meet Britain’s gas needs for the next 50 years.

Even if the firm can extract only a fraction of it, it would still have an impact comparable to the

‘Monitoring regime’

of North Sea oil. Yesterday’s report was rejected by anti-fracking campaigners who fear bigger earthquakes and the contamination of water supplies.

Fracking involves pumping water, sand and chemicals into shale rock down a 9,000ft deep pipeline at high pressure to release gas. Cuadrilla hopes to establish at least 800 drilling wells on 80 sites in Lancashire.

With a final decision on fracking to be made by the Department of Energy in six weeks, the report is seen as a crucial step toward what would be the biggest gasdrilling operation in Europe.

Exploratory drilling licences have also been handed out in South Wales and Cheshire, with Sussex and Kent next in line.

The report recommends one of the strictest monitoring regimes in the world. Any tremor over 0.5 in magnitude would trigger the removal of the fracking fluid while an investigation is held.

The independent report was carried out by experts from Keele University and the British Geological Survey.