Cuadrilla vows to start fracking despite legal challenge

CUADRILLA, the shale gas developer, expects to start fracking in England next week, seven years after its first attempt to fracture a well hydraulically led to earth tremors.

The energy firm has vowed to revive its shale gas ambitions despite an eleventh-hour bid to scupper the plans.

The decision follows years of public protests and an overhaul of regulations. Cuadrilla dismissed the last-ditch appeal to block drilling at its Lancashire shale site as “hopelessly weak” and vowed to press ahead within days.

The temporary injunction, brought against Cuadrilla by a Lancashire antifracking campaigner, will be in place until a court hearing on Wednesday when the firm will “vigorously defend any call for an injunction”.

A statement from the company said the latest legal challenge “is clearly a last-ditch attempt” to delay Cuadrilla’s efforts “to find a new source of muchneeded

‘The new role will provide a single point of contact for local residents to get the information they need’

natural gas for the UK”. The company has spent seven years fighting for the right to frack at its Preston New Road site where its early work caused a tremor in 2011. The minor quake prompted fierce local opposition to the plans and an 18-month moratorium under the coalition government.

Since then, Conservative ministers have welcomed the work of unconventional onshore oil and gas companies by establishing a new commission to help smooth the path for the burgeoning sector.

Claire Perry, the Energy Minister, appointed Natascha Engel, the former Labour MP, as the first Shale Commissioner yesterday, saying that it was important to “get the facts straight on shale gas”.

“This new role will provide a single point of contact for local residents to get the information they need and have their questions answered,” she said.

Ken Cronin, the boss of trade-backed lobby group UKOOG, said the appointment “goes some way to ensuring that our energy security is protected and the benefits we have already seen flowing into communities such as Lancashire become much more widespread”.

Fracking involves fracturing rock deep under ground using a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to encourage the flow of hydrocarbons from shale, a dense and tightly packed sedimentary rock.