In April 2019 it was confirmed that Warwick Onshore Exploration has left onshore licence EXL 269 which contains Cuadrillaâs Preston New Road wellsite. The companyâs 5% interest has been split between Cuadrilla subsidiary Cuadrilla Elswick (No.2) Ltd (3.3125%) and Spirit Energyâs subsidiary Elswick Energy Ltd (1.6875%). The acreage not only contains the shale gas exploration site at Preston New Road but also the Elswick discovery which is a small Permian gas field producing onsite electricity.   Cuadrilla announced in November 2018 that it has seen natural gas flow to surface along with the recycled water from the Shale at its Preston New Road site in EXL 269. Volumes of gas are small and due to operation constraints from micro-seismicity mean that not as much sand has been injected into the shale during the fraccing process as was planned. The company commenced hydraulic fracturing work on 15 October 2018. Fraccing operations were expected to take approximately three months to complete where the company was to frac two wells. On 29 October 2018 Cuadrilla confirmed that three micro-seismic events above 0.5 ML have been recorded at the site with one event measuring 1.1 ML. Following the events an 18 hour pause to fraccing operations was undertaken. On 14 December 2018 Cuadrilla announced that further micro-seismic events had been recorded with the largest reaching 0.9 ML. Cuadrilla again paused operations for 18 hours and the well integrity was checked and verified. On 6 February 2019, Cuadrilla confirmed that flow testing indicated there is the presence of high quality gas in an excellent shale gas reservoir. A complex fracture system was introduced into the shale and when sand was injected into the fractures they have remained in place whilst the gas flowed. The gas has a high methane content so requires minimal processing. Work is not fully completed on testing but during the early stages gas flowed at a stabilised rate of 100,000 scf/d and peaked at 200,000 scf/d. The company has submitted an application to the OGA to allow the wells to be tested fully. If approval is given Cuadrilla expects to commence work later in 2019. The well has been shut-in to allow monitoring and pressure build up.  Following completion of the deal interest in the licence is held by Cuadrilla subsidiary Cuadrilla Elswick Limited (46.1875% + operator), AJ Lucas subsidiary Elswick Power Limited (23.75%), Spirit Energy subsidiary (22.75%) and another Cuadrilla subsidiary Cuadrilla Elswick (no.2) Limited (7.3125%)
United Kingdom (West Lancashire Sub-basin (East Irish Sea B.)) Elswick