Fracking exploration to take place in Formby

Formby Bubble
Dec 20, 2015
6 min read

Fracking could soon take place in Formby and across Southport and West Lancashire after the government issued licenses for 159 new areas.

Southport is covered by a huge area known as ‘Lancashire Bowland’, which strectehs from Fleetwood in the north, to Preston, Leyland and Chorley in the east and down to Burscough, and just north of Ormskirk, which will be operated by Cuadrilla Resources Ltd.

The firm, which met with huge opposition when it drilled a well to explore for shale gas in Banks recently, has also won the rights to search for shale gas in east Yorkshire.

Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla, said: “The award of these licences gives Cuadrilla a leading position in each of the three most prospective shale gas exploration areas in Northern England, namely Lancashire Bowland, Gainsborough in South Yorkshire and Cleveland in East Yorkshire.

“The massive potential for the natural gas to be extracted in these areas could help to drive the Northern Powerhouse by securing the low carbon energy future of the UK as well as creating investment and local jobs across the region.”

Cuadrilla says its first priority is always to talk with local communities transparently about any proposed work and future operations.

This has already begun in the licence areas awarded in August and will now be extended to the new areas.

For the next year activity in these new exploration licence areas will largely centre on desktop studies. This will give the company a very detailed understanding on the geology deep underneath the licence areas, helping to assess where exploration sites can subsequently be located.

Further, smaller blocks have also been awarded to Aurora Energy Resources, for an area covering Formby, and the coast just off the town; and three further blocks east of Formby, with areas including Aughton, Ormskirk, Skelmersdale and Wigan.

Aurora Energy Resources Limited, a UK company based in Aberdeen, now holds Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) 164 covering 100km2 of West Lancashire and Merseyside.

The Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) – the UK’s oil and gas regulator – announced on Thursday (December 17) that 159 onshore blocks under the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round were being formally offered to successful applicants. These blocks will be incorporated into 93 onshore licences.

A total of 95 applications were received from 47 companies covering 295 Ordnance Survey Blocks.

A OGA says that a Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) does not itself give any direct permission for operations to begin. A PEDL grants the licensee exclusivity over an area of land for onshore hydrocarbon exploration, appraisal and extraction.

The exclusivity applies to both conventional and unconventional operations.

The OGA said: “The UK has a long history of onshore gas exploration, and has developed a robust regulatory system to ensure that any such operations will be carried out to the highest standards of safety and environmental protection. Before a PEDL licensee can begin operations such as drilling, hydraulic fracturing or production they must be granted a number of further permissions and consents.

Frack Off's response to the new licenses being issued

“These include, for example, planning permission, environmental permits from the Environment Agency, scrutiny of well design by the Health and Safety Executive, and OGA consents under the terms of the PEDL.”

Around 75% of the 159 blocks offered on Thursday relate to unconventional shale oil or gas, and additional regulatory requirements apply to this kind of activity.

OGA Chief Executive Andy Samuel said: “I am pleased that the 14th Onshore Round attracted strong interest and a high quality of proposed work programmes. This round enables a significant amount of the UK’s shale prospects to be taken forward to be explored and tested.

“Upon acceptance of these offers, applicants will be issued with licences and will be able to begin planning their future strategies for exploration activities. These will be subject to further local planning, safety, environmental and other authorisations.”

Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom said: “Last month we set out the vital role gas will play in the UK’s transition to a low-carbon future. The licences offered today move us a step closer - driving forwards this industry which will provide secure, home grown energy to hardworking families and businesses for decades to come.

“Alongside conventional drilling sites, we need to get shale gas moving. As the Task Force for Shale Gas report found earlier this week, with the right standards in place fracking can take place safely. Now is the time to press ahead and get exploration underway so that we can determine how much shale gas there is and how much we can use.”

What is Fracking?

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, is a drilling technique used for extracting oil or natural gas from deep underground. Fracking is a hotly debated environmental and political issue. Advocates insist it is a safe and economical source of clean energy; critics, however, claim fracking can destroy drinking water supplies, pollute the air and contribute to the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

How fracking works

Most fracking wells in use today rely on two technologies: hydraulic fracturing, which has been in use since the 1940s, and horizontal drilling, a technique that first became widespread in the 1990s.

In simplified terms, the fracking process starts with a well that is drilled vertically or at an angle from the surface to a depth of 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2 kilometers) or more.

Once the vertical well reaches the deep layer of rock where natural gas or oil exists, the well curves about 90 degrees and begins drilling horizontally along that rock layer. Horizontal drilling can extend more than 1 mile (1.6 km) from the vertical well bore.

After the fracking well is fully drilled and encased, fracking fluid is pumped down into the well at extremely high pressure, in some cases exceeding 9,000 pounds per square inch (62,050 kilopascals). The pressure is powerful enough to fracture the surrounding rock, creating fissures and cracks through which oil and gas can flow.

The fluid that is pumped into the well to fracture the rock is called slickwater. It is mostly water, though it also can contain a wide range of additives and chemicals that serve an engineering purpose. Additives can include detergents, salts, acids, alcohols, lubricants and disinfectants. These chemical additives usually make up 0.5 to 2 percent of the slickwater, with the remaining 98 to 99.5 percent consisting of plain water.

In addition to the water and chemical additives, "proppants" such as sand and ceramic particles are also pumped into the fracking well. These proppants are added to prop open the fractures that form under pressure, thereby ensuring that gas and oil can continue to flow freely out of rock fractures even after pumping pressure is released, according to the EPA.

Once the underground rock is shattered and proppants are pumped into place, trapped reservoirs of gas and oil are released and pumped back to the surface, along with millions of gallons of "flowback" liquid, according to the EPA.

The flowback liquid contains water and a number of contaminants, including radioactive material, heavy metals, hydrocarbons and other toxins. This wastewater is stored on the fracking site in pits, injected into deep underground wells or disposed of off-site at a wastewater treatment facility.

"Formation water" is the briny water that was in the pore spaces of the rocks. "The formation water is usually very salty and can have high levels of radon, a radioactive gas that comes from the decay of uranium in the subsurface," Marcia Bjornerud, a structural geologist said:

"Flowback water can be treated, but there are large volumes of it and so dealing with it is expensive, and beyond what many small-town water treatment plants can handle."