UK shale gas explorer Cuadrilla Resources has halted hydraulic fracturing plans in northern England until the results of the ongoing investigation into induced seismic activity at its site concludes.
Cuadrilla, which is set to begin demobilising fracking equipment at its flagship Preston New Road site, has had its operations suspended since a 2.9 magnitude tremor last month.
Industry regulators launched the investigation into the induced seismic activity, which significantly exceeded the 0.5 magnitude on the Richter scale threshold.
“Since the induced seismic event, we have been working hard with our regulator, the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA), on a number of detailed technical studies,” chief executive Francis Egan said in a video posted on social media.
“Those studies will take time to conclude, and because of this we have decided that we will not be re-entering the Preston New Road 2 well to conduct any further fracturing operations before our planning consent expires at the end of November,” he said.
“Following seismic events at the Preston New Road site, the OGA suspended operations and requested additional data and analysis from Cuadrilla before hydraulic fracturing operations could resume,” the OGA said.
Cuadrilla will, however, continue with flow testing of its second horizontal shale gas well, which was partially fractured in August. Testing is to move forward in the next few weeks.
Egan said: “The planning consent for the site itself extends to April 2023, so there is a lot of time left and work to do on the site.
“In the immediate term we will be moving forward with testing the flow of gas at the PNR2 well. We completed very similar tests on the PNR1 well with excellent results, high-quality natural gas flowing to surface, and we are hoping for similar if not better results from the current well,” he said.
“The OGA has received initial data from Cuadrilla which still requires further consideration. However, we understand that … Cuadrilla has decided to demobilise the hydraulic fracturing equipment at the Preston New Road site,” the OGA said.
“Cuadrilla plans to perform an extended well test. This does not involve hydraulic fracturing. The OGA will continue to monitor activities,” the regulator said.
A timeframe has not been agreed with the OGA for the technical work to be completed.
In February, Cuadrilla announced results from flow-testing of the UK’s first ever horizontal shale gas exploration well, which confirmed a high-quality natural gas resource in the Lower Bowland shale, capable of flowing to surface.
The British Geological Survey has previously estimated natural gas resource potential in the Bowland shale at around 1300 trillion cubic feet.
Meanwhile, some of the Cuadrilla's investors are reportedly looking to exit the business amid the setbacks in the nascent industry in the UK.
Bloomberg reported last month that Riverstone Holding, which holds 45% of Cuadrilla, and Kerogen, which holds an indirect stake through majority shareholder AJ Lucas, are eyeing a potential sale.
The companies have not commented on the reports.