Shale gas explorers are not yet ready to give up on plans for hydraulic fracturing in the UK despite a decision by the government late last week to order an indefinite moratorium on the practice.

The UK government had been a longtime supporter of the fracking industry but has now put in place a new moratorium in England after a review published by the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) concluded it was impossible to predict the likelihood or scale of earthquakes triggered by the process.

However, the moratorium stopped shy of an outright ban, with OGA director of regulation Tom Wheeler saying, “the OGA believes that further detailed geomechanical analysis would be needed before we could evaluate with confidence whether hydraulic fracturing could resume”.

Fracking in Scotland was suspended in 2013. The Welsh government imposed a moratorium in 2015, and there is a planning presumption against fracking in Northern Ireland.

According to Cuadrilla Resources, the operator of UK’s only active fracking site at Preston New Road in Lancashire, OGA’s report establishes an effective moratorium to be maintained “until compelling new evidence is provided to address concerns around the prediction and management of induced seismicity”.

As a result, Cuadrilla added that it “will now review these interim reports in detail and continue to work constructively with the OGA to provide further detailed data to address concerns so that the moratorium can be lifted and the highly prospective Bowland gas resource further appraised and developed”.

OGA’s report on seismicity recommends that “work on maximum magnitude prediction be given high priority”, according to the company.

Fracking at Preston New Road was brought to a halt this summer after fracking triggered multiple earth tremors that breached the 0.5 magnitude threshold permitted for induced seismic activity under UK regulations.

Cuadrilla suspended operations pending OGA’s investigation but was allowed to continue with testing work at its wells.

An earlier moratorium on fracking introduced in 2011 after tremors caused by Cuadrilla’s drilling near Blackpool in Lancashire brought work to a halt for about two years.

However, at the end of 2012, the UK government introduced new tax incentives for shale gas, effectively breathing life back into the industry.

Fellow shale explorers and project partners IGas and Egdon Resources also confirmed they will spend time examining the detail of the report.

IGas chief executive Stephen Bowler said: “We have confirmed a world-class resource at our site in North Nottinghamshire and remain committed to working with regulators to demonstrate that we can operate safely and environmentally responsibly.

"Each site and basin can have substantially different geology and we continue to analyse and understand the data available to us.”

Ken Cronin, chief executive of industry body UK Onshore Oil & Gas (UKOOG) added: “Going forward, we are fully committed to working closely with the OGA and other relevant regulators to demonstrate that we can operate safely and environmentally responsibly.

“Since shale gas exploration commenced in England, we have confirmed a world-class resource. Flow testing and core sampling across Lancashire and North Nottinghamshire show that our high-quality indigenous gas can reach the surface,” Cronin said.

The British Geological Survey has previously estimated natural gas resource potential in the Bowland shale at around 1300 trillion cubic feet.

Meanwhile, the moratorium was welcomed by green groups and environmentalists.

Craig Bennett, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth, said: “This moratorium is a tremendous victory for communities and the climate”.

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UK shale explorers hit by fracking halt