UPI: Cuadrilla confirms Lancashire shale

British gas explorer Cuadrilla Resources said Thursday it believes there are 200 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas in a play below Lancashire.

Cuadrilla Chief Executive Officer Francis Egan said the next step for the Bowland shale basin in Lancashire was to determine how much gas is feasibly recoverable.

The company said it was waiting until 2014, however, to continue work in Lanchashire, first finishing environmental impact assessments at existing and planned sites for hydraulic fracturing.

"We recognize that within the complex U.K. regulatory framework governing planning this process can prove lengthy but we are determined to spare no effort in meeting our exploration targets in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner," Egan said in a statement.  MORE