Cuadrilla to restart fracking at Lancashire site
Fracking will restart at Cuadrilla’s Lancashire site soon, the company confirmed today, as it continues to press for looser regulation.
Chief executive Francis Egan said his firm will gather more data from the site, and test the flow of natural gas.
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The Preston New Road site, near Blackpool, has been relatively inactive since the beginning of May when Cuadrilla ended some work.
Egan said he will continue to push the government to relax its rules on seismic activity at fracking sites.
Under the rules work must stop if sensors in the area detect small tremors of 0.5 on the Richter scale. This is well below limits in the US, where a booming shale industry is pushing down energy prices.
“Work to date on what is probably the most highly monitored onshore oil and gas site in the world has proved that this is an entirely safe, well run and well-regulated operation – and there is no doubt that the opportunity for the UK is huge,” Egan said.
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The calls for laxer seismic rules has been echoed by other fracking advocates, including Ineos. They claim that fracking can provide cheap gas to the UK. By replacing imports, which need to be shipped here, it also reduces emissions.
However, it has faced backlash from anti-fracking campaigners and politicians.
Main image credit: Getty