By Jaime Llinares Taboada
The U.K. Oil and Gas Authority has ordered Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. to permanently seal its shale gas wells in Lancashire, England, the company said Wednesday.
These are Britain's only two horizontal shale wells, Cuadrilla said. Operations were suspended in August 2019 after a seismic event was recorded at the site. A few months later the U.K. government announced a moratorium on fracking.
Cuadrilla, which is 96%-owned by Australian drilling services provider AJ Lucas Group Ltd., said that the decision to plug the wells will mean that the 37.6 trillion cubic meters of gas located in the area will continue to sit unused at a time when the U.K. is importing expensive energy.
"What's more ridiculous is that leaving our own shale gas in the ground will make reducing global emissions even harder. Emissions from importing gas are far higher than those from home-produced shale gas. I don't think that this has been properly thought through," Cuadrilla Chief Executive Francis Egan said.
According to data from the regulator, Cuadrilla has a 53.5% interest in the project's license. AJ Lucas has a direct 23.75% stake, and the remaining 22.75% belongs to Centrica PLC's Spirit Energy.
Cuadrilla confirmed that it will shortly mobilize a rig to start sealing the wells with cement.
"We heard the same story a decade ago--fracking was going to be the solution to our energy problems. Years later, all this industry has given us are a couple of holes in a muddy field and some minor earthquakes," Greenpeace U.K. said in a statement.
Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com; @JaimeLlinaresT
"seal" - Google News
February 10, 2022 at 10:39PM
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UK Regulator Orders to Seal Remaining Shale Gas Wells in England - MarketWatch
"seal" - Google News
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