Cuadrilla About to Embark on Drilling

A new energy source for Britain

UK’s Channel 4 News reports on the UK’s first shale gas well.

Cuadrilla Resources is preparing to drill for shale gas a few miles from Blackpool in Lancashire, targeting gas trapped 10,000 feet below the surface in rocks called the Bowland shale, which runs from Pendle Hill near Preston to the Irish Sea.

Chris Cornelius, co-founder of Cuadrilla Resources, told Channel 4 News: "I think we're quite confident that we will find gas it's just whether we find gas in economic quantities.

"I think it's very early days. It will take a lot of exploration and a lot of effort by small companies like us and larger companies as well. But ultimately we are hopeful that we would find certain deposits here that would add to the net reserves of the UK."

Cuadrilla is following up on wells that were drilled by British Gas in the early eighties.

“They penetrated through the Bowland shale and the old indications were that there was gas in that shale. So we decided that this area would be prospective, and after about a year's worth of work we decided that this was the place to start," said Mr Cornelius.

Cuadrilla is at the very beginning of a long process, and it could take years before any of the gas it finds is being used in Britain.

The company hopes that within a few years, shale gas from Lancashire and other parts of Britain could contribute between five to 10 per cent of the country's gas needs.

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