The report shows a total investment into the county of £8.6m, from January 2016 to the end of March 2018. The figure stoof at £7m at the close of 2017.
During the first three months of this year, in which Cuadrilla completed drilling the first horizontal shale gas well in the UK, the company has also seen a growth in interest from the local supply chain, with over 700 companies now registered on the Supply Chain Portal which is hosted by the county’s two Chambers of Commerce.The latest tracker reveals that indirect spend, the amount of money Cuadrilla’s suppliers have sub contracted to other suppliers based in Lancashire specifically linked to their own work for Cuadrilla, has now risen to over £1m.
Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla, said: “Having completed drilling the first horizontal well into UK shale, and currently finishing the second, we are delighted that our important exploratory work at Preston New Road has benefited the local economy by nearly £9m to date."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.