Cuadrilla ‘quietly confident’ on government go-ahead for shale

Shale developer Cuadrilla expects to hear on Monday whether the government will give a greenlight to the shale extraction plans at its Lancashire license, which were derailed four years ago over geological safety concerns.

Chief executive of the developer Francis Egan said the company is “quietly confident” that the government will now allow the plans to move ahead, according to weekend reports in the Telegraph.

Egan told the newspaper that the local council should look past the “hype” of vocal opposition to the site, saying that the safety measures in place to monitor the “small-scale” project would be the most thorough for an oil and gas project in history.

Safety concerns have dogged the development of the UK’s burgeoning shale industry since tremors in Blackpool in 2012 prompted the government to impose a moratorium on fracking pending further investigation.

If given, today’s government’s approval will follow that of the Environment Agency which at the beginning of this year said fracking could move ahead in the Bowland exploration area after they “rigorously assessed” Cuadrilla’s fracking applications. The permits were awarded on the condition that the company protects groundwater, surface water and air quality as well as ensure the safe storage, management and disposal of wastes.

The EA’s Philip Dilley told MPs on the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Efra) committee that tighter fracking rules are not needed, and that under the existing regime, the risks “are relatively easily mitigated or avoided by doing things competently”.

But concern over the increase in heavy vehicles on the local roads remains.

Cuadrilla hope to move ahead with shale development at the end of the year and begin fracking by summer 2016.