'˜Successful shale gas industry will bring jobs bonanza'

The Onshore Energy Services Group said a fully developed fracking industry would benefit the area due to the jobs created.
Horizontal fracking can go ahead, the government has said, in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry.Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has approved plans for fracking at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton in Lancashire.Horizontal fracking can go ahead, the government has said, in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry.Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has approved plans for fracking at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton in Lancashire.
Horizontal fracking can go ahead, the government has said, in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry.Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has approved plans for fracking at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton in Lancashire.

OESG co-founder Richard Sands said: “A report by Ernst & Young in 2014 predicted that a successful shale gas industry could one day be responsible for over 64,500 jobs, of which 61 per cent will be in the supply chain.

“We believe that the best way to maximise supply chain job creation is to ensure that small companies - which are much more likely to have to take on and train new people - get a chance to play a big role.

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“We look forward to seeing Cuadrilla Resources develop a supply chain in which small companies from across Lancashire and beyond are given the opportunity to thrive.”

Fracking was suspended in Lancashire in 2011 after two small tremors were detected following exploration tests at Cuadrilla’s Preese Hall well.

Since then, every aspect of shale gas drilling has been subjected to intense scrutiny, with regulatory bodies concluding that it can proceed provided that it is adequately regulated and all work is performed to a high standard.

Existing British supply chain SMEs have decades of experience in planning and permitting, well design, drilling and completions, drilling waste management, environmental monitoring and management, and a host of other technical and scientific disciplines that enable those high standards.

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The Lancashire fracking decision means that they, and others, will now have a key role to play in demonstrating to the wider public that shale gas wells can be brought into production efficiently and safely, in the same way that conventional oil and gas wells are, both onshore and offshore.

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