U.K. Region Defers Decision on Fracking

LONDON--A decision on whether Cuadrilla Resources can use hydraulic fracturing to explore for shale gas in Lancashire in north west England has been deferred, while new proposals to address noise and traffic concerns are considered, the local government said on Wednesday.

These are the first applications to frack for shale gas since the government lifted a moratorium on the extraction technique at the end of 2012, after tiny tremors were felt after Cuadrilla fracked a well in 2011.

The long process to get approval for fracking permits illustrates the challenges that companies face in Britain as they seek to begin exploration work to assess how much of the country's potential resources of natural gas from shale rock can be commercially developed.

Privately owned shale minnow Cuadrilla had asked for the deferral after a planning officer in Lancashire county council last week recommended that the applications should be refused because it would increase traffic and noise on rural roads around the sites.

Large European energy companies, including France's Total SA and GDF Suez SA have picked up stakes in existing licenses held by tiny shale companies, boosting funding and expertise for exploration and drilling campaigns.

But protests and local opposition have slowed development in the U.K., where only a handful of exploration wells have been drilled and just one well has been fracked.

Lancashire council didn't give a date when the committee overseeing the matter would reconvene to take a decision on the applications to frack wells at the Roseacre Wood and Preston New Road sites.

Cuadrilla said it believed the additional information it had submitted would address the noise and traffic concerns.

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