The Lower Stumble Farm site is located in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Beauty just south of Balcombe village. In 2010 Cuadrilla was granted permission to undertake exploratory drilling (including lateral drilling) for oil and gas at the site. The site had previously been the location for exploratory drilling in the 1980s. Various requests by Cuadrilla last summer to amend and extend its 2010 permits were objected to by CPRE Sussex, and were withdrawn by Cuadrilla.
The licensed exploratory drilling took place between July and September 2013. The drilling work did not involve any hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of the underlying rock formations.
Cuadrilla now report that, "having analysed all of the data gathered from its recently drilled vertical and horizontal exploration well at the Lower Stumble site Cuadrilla has concluded that the underground limestone rock layer which it proposes to test (“Micrite”) is (i) hydrocarbon bearing and (ii) has a significant level of natural fracturing. As such, the proposed flow testing operations do not include hydraulic fracturing and for the avoidance of doubt Cuadrilla can confirm that it will not be proposing to hydraulically fracture this well in the future."
Cuadrilla now seeks permission for hydrocarbon flow testing during a six month period of the exploration well drilling (including a lateral section) undertaken in summer 2013. They say that, in outline terms, this would comprise the following operations:
• Pre-test operations: involving mobilisation and operation of the work-over (service) rig, to tube, clean out and prepare the borehole.
• Well test operations Involving opening the well and use of a bean pump (nodding donkey pump) to extract and test the flow of oil, water and gas over a 3 - 5 week period, with the well thereafter being permanently plugged below ground level. During flow testing approx 20 cubic meters of diluted spent hydrochloric acid will be pumped into the borehole to remove drilling mud debris, with the outflow being collected on the surface and removed from site.
Permission is not sought for any further drilling or for fracking. Indeed Cuadrilla states that hydraulic fracturing techniques would not need to be used at any point in the future if extraction or other drilling were ever to be permitted at this site.
Cuadrilla report that the proposed testing operations would aim to "determine whether the hydrocarbons detected during drilling have the potential to warrant extending the Lower Stumble drilling operations onto a longer-term flow testing or drilling appraisal phase. This information will not however be obtained until this short test has been undertaken. Following completion of the proposed temporary hydrocarbon testing, any further appraisal testing would be the subject of further planning application(s).” It is significant to note from this statement that further appraisal testing may be required in due course, for which a further permit would have to be applied for.
Cuadrilla claims that there will not be significant traffic movements to or from the site during this testing phase.
Cuadrilla already has a mining waste permit issued by the Environment Agency. This permit will regulate the required flaring of gas during testing and vented nitrogen from the nitrogen lift.
Cuadrilla claim that, “in terms of plant and equipment requirements, testing operations will be significantly less intensive than preceding drilling operations and consequently the expectation would be that such testing operations would comply with the same noise limits as imposed on the drilling operations at the well site, as previously consented by the planning authority.”
Whilst the current application involves limited and temporary site activity (and no fracking or other drilling), in the event that Cuadrilla were ever to seek a license to extract hydrocarbons commercially from this site, CPRE would expect to oppose that license application. It is our Branch policy normally to oppose the exploration for, and extraction of hydrocarbons from, shale gas deposits underlying the South Downs National Park, the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or any Site of Special Scientific Interest within the county, whether or not hydraulic fracturing techniques are to be used. Our opposition would be based on the principles that (a) there is no demonstrable ‘exceptional circumstance’ in the public interest to justify extracting oil or gas from shale in such sensitive areas that would outweigh the harm to these nationally designated landscapes given the widespread abundance of shale throughout the country, (b) the national interest in promoting other lower carbon sources of energy, and (c) local impacts regarding traffic, amenity and pollution.
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