Cuadrilla response to UK government shale gas review
Responding to the announcement of a shale gas review, Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla Resources Ltd, said:
“The Government clearly recognises the huge potential that shale gas offers this country, and this review may be a tentative first step towards overturning the moratorium and exploiting that potential.
“Anyone who has been following the science since 2019 will be surprised if the Government in fact needs three months to take stock of the clear evidence that already exists.
“In 2020 the Oil and Gas Authority released a report which says that seismicity at the first of Cuadrilla’s two Preston New Road shale gas wells was “imperceptible”, and that the scientific characterisation of even the largest seismic event was “difficult to justify”. [1]
“The Royal Society, one of the world’s most reputable scientific organisations, could not have been clearer when they said that the “seismic risks are low”, and are less noticeable than the hundreds of naturally occurring seismic events which happened in the UK every year. [2]
“We trust that this review will allow Britain’s huge shale gas resources to be exploited. This can create tens of thousands of jobs, bolster energy security, and provide cheaper gas for local communities, and millions of pounds in tax revenues for northern councils. All the while we leave this gas in the ground, the UK continues importing vast quantities of gas at huge expense, creating higher CO2 emissions and no UK jobs or tax revenues. “Former NATO Security General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia is “engaged actively” with environmental groups against shale gas to undermine Western energy security. So we trust that rather than listening to scare stories coming from green lobby groups, the Government will heed the advice of its own regulator and the UK’s world-beating academy of sciences and lift the moratorium.”
