Cuadrilla forced to plug shale well

Cuadrilla obtained planning permission for Becconsall earlier this year but was unsuccessful in its attempts to place all pressure monitoring equipment on site by 31^st May – a condition set out in the planning consent.

As a result of that failure, Cuadrilla has said it will plug the well with cement and fully restore the site in 2016.

We have a responsibility to ensure people understand the facts and are not misled by harmful scaremongering

Cuadrilla CEO Francis Egan

According to Cuadrilla, no fracking ever took place at the well, although it was drilled for samples in 2011.

This year has presented somewhat of a mixed bag for the fracking firm.

Two of its other sites – at Roseacre Wood and Preston New Road in Blackpool – were effectively shut down in June when Lancashire County Council refused to grant Cuadrilla with the planning permission it needed to drill, hydraulically fracture and test the flow of gas from a number of exploration wells.

However, less than two months later the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) offered Cuadrilla, as well as the likes of IGas and Ineos, two fracking exploration licences.

In that instance, Cuadrilla chief executive officer Francis Egan said he recognised that members of the public had concerns regarding fracking.

“Our first priority will be to talk with local communities,” he said, after the OGA announcement was made during August.

“We have a responsibility to ensure people understand the facts and are not misled by harmful scaremongering.”