Horizontal drilling comes to the UK, but fracking must wait

Pioneering driller Cuadrilla is optimistic over shale gas well prospects

Cuadrilla Resources says it has moved closer towards launching the UK's first major fracking project by drilling the country's first ever horizontal shale gas well at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire, north-west England.  The company hasn't been cleared to carry out hydraulic fracturing, which has been halted in the UK since earth tremors were recorded during tests at another Cuadrilla site in 2011. However, the company is optimistic that it will be cleared to frack in the near future, both in this well and another it plans to drill now.  The company, which says it has permission to drill four wells in all on the site, has drilled its first horizontal well through the Lower Bowland sh