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Focusing on the issues

Welcome to the Refracktion website

This site was created to provide clear, focused and useful information on the subject of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract shale gas on the Fylde Coast.

Whether you are coming to this issue for the first time, or you are already well informed but are keeping up with the developing story of fracking on the Fylde you will find stimulating and challenging material here.

What is the current position of www.refracktion.com on the issue of fracking?

Well, Refracktion is not convinced by the benefits case being peddled by Cuadrilla, Ineos and the rest of the fracking companies, and is very seriously concerned that the regulatory framework is currently inadequate.

Refracktion believes that:

  • fracking would have inevitable negative impacts on our local environment and its amenity value
  • fracking would have inevitable negative impacts on our local tourism and agricultural industries
  • fracking is incompatible with the UK’s obligations for climate change mitigation

Under no circumstances should fracking be allowed to go ahead without proper regulation

  • proper regulation cannot be framed before rigorous science-based studies of environmental, human health and economic impacts have been completed.
  • these studies have not been completed in any meaningful way
  • as a result fracking must not be allowed to go ahead in the current circumstances.

 


Refracktion’s most recent articles:


Spirit having flown ...

Back in 2013 Centrica decided it would be a good idea to invest in the nascent UK shale industry.

The details when they came out revealed that they would pay:

£40,000,000 Paid Up front
£60,000,000 Initial Carry
£46,700,000 Contingent Carry payable after the flow...Read More »


Riverstone runs dry

Yesterday Cuadrilla’s parent, AJ Lucas announced that it had “approved the acquisition, effective immediately, of Riverstone’s interest in the UK shale gas explorer, Cuadrilla Resources.”

What does this mean?

Well Riverstone had owned 45% of...Read More »


Thanks, but no thanks!

That seems to have been the general response to Cuadrilla’s parent company AJ Lucas’s attempts to winkle more cash from their beleaguered investors.

The results are now in and we can see that they managed to raise...Read More »


Please Sir! I want some more

AJ Lucas have their bowl out again and are asking their investors for more cash. Last time they did this was back in January 2018 and we reported on that at the time.

Read More »

Would he lie to you?

A couple of weeks ago we commented on Mr Egan’s claim that reports of damage were in the “low two figures”.

It was a strange claim given that we have heard from a variety of sources that there were over 100.

So what are we to make of the publication...Read More »


Another view on the moratorium

Here on Refracktion we are always happy to explore points of view. Local author Alan Tootill has been a commentator on fracking for many years and his in depth analysis has been immensely helpful to many of us over the years. Here he offers his thoughts on...Read More »


The writing is on the wall

As the dust starts to settle on the announcement of the government’s decision to implement a moratorium on new fracking development we take a look at what it means and how it came about.

First of all let’s be clear about one thing. Fracking in England has not...Read More »


The cracks in Cuadrilla's façade

The papers today are running a story about Cuadrilla’s good will payments made to home owners who reported damage after the 2.9 Ml quake of Monday August 26th 2019.

This article in the Times is typical...Read More »


The fat lady is on stage

.. and she is already singing.

Today Cuadrilla announced that they are demobilising the fracking equipment at their site at Preston New Road as they will not be able to restart fracking before their existing planning permission runs out at the end of November 2019.

Before they...Read More »


Shaken AND Stirred

It is no news to anybody now that Cuadrilla appear to have lost control of the seismic activity at their PNR 2 well at Preston New Road.

We have now seen 128 seismic events registered by the BGS. Of these 9 have been amber level events and 9 have been red...Read More »


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