Cuadrilla has today issued its latest “Putting Lancashire First” commitments tracker to include figures up to 31st December 2017. The latest report reveals that during the last quarter of 2017 spend in the Lancashire economy from Cuadrilla’s shale gas exploration operations has increased by over £2 million to a total of £6.8 million.
The total full time and contract jobs which have been created now stands at 55. Cuadrilla also paid out £161,000 in community payments in 2017, £100,000 of which was to the independent Community Benefit Fund run by Community Foundation For Lancashire who are deciding with the help of a local panel how to distribute this money to the benefit of the wider community. The rest of the money has been paid direct to local residents who live close to the Preston New Road shale gas exploration site following a local consultation where the vast majority opted for direct payments to households. Further payments to households will follow in the next quarterly tracker.
Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla, said: “Having completed the vertical well through the Bowland shale, where we have acquired very useful data, and started drilling the first horizontal well into UK shale, we are delighted to demonstrate that Lancashire’s economy has benefited by almost £7m to date. Working with Lancashire suppliers remains a priority for us and we are grateful for their high quality services and support and pleased we have also enabled the creation of so many local jobs.”
To further maximise local spend, Cuadrilla is working with the North and Western Lancashire Chamber to hold a series of Meet the Buyer sessions in the local area. The first of these sessions, held in November 2017, proved to be very popular, so another is planned in the first quarter of 2018. Businesses interested in future opportunities should register on the Lancashire shale gas supply chain portal visit www.shalegaslancashire.co.uk.
In December 2016 CEO Francis Egan signed six public commitments to the county of Lancashire to commit Cuadrilla to putting Lancashire first in terms of creating jobs, investment, new skills and community initiatives as a result of shale gas exploration and, if exploration is successful, shale gas production in Lancashire. The tracker figures have been independently verified by Danbro Accounting Ltd. The next tracker will be released in April 2018 with figures to 31st March 2018.
