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December 13th, 2011:

Cuadrilla admits drilling caused Blackpool earthquakes

Private company Cuadrilla Resources has admitted that its activities probably caused two “seismic events” that occured in Blackpool earlier this year.

By 12:36PM GMT 02 Nov 2011

In April, a tremor measuring 2.3 on the Richter scale was felt in the Lancashire seaside resort, followed by an event in May that measured 1.5 on the scale.

“It is highly probable that the hydraulic fracturing of Cuadrilla’s Preese Hall-1 well did trigger a number of minor seismic events,” Cuadrilla admitted. The report also said there was no threat to people and property in the local area caused by the drilling.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involved pumping a solution at high pressure through shale to crack the rock formation. This allows trapped gas to be released and collected. read more

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Add Quakes to Rumblings Over Gas Rush

By

A version of this article appeared in print on December 13, 2011, on page D1 of the New York edition

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Until this year, this Rust Belt city and surrounding Mahoning County had been about as dead, seismically, as a place can be, without even a hint of an earthquake since Scots-Irish settlers arrived in the 18th century.

But on March 17, two minor quakes briefly shook the city. And in the following eight months there have been seven more — like the first two, too weak to cause damage or even be felt by many people, but strong enough to rattle some nerves.

“It felt like someone was kicking in the front door. It scared the stuffing out of me,” said Steve Moritz, a cook who lives on the city’s west side, describing the seventh quake, which occurred in late September. It was the strongest one, with a magnitude of 2.7. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Could Chinese Shale Mean the End of U.S. Shale Gas Boom?

By Pierre Bertrand | December 12, 2011 5:47 PM EST

China‘s natural gas industry is still developing, but already it is showing signs that worry some players in the U.S.

Last week, Royal Dutch Shell and Chinese officials announced the company found shale gas in two wells in the Shichuan province, and that production was overall positive. That was coupled with reports that China‘s state-run PetroChina was producing more than 10,000 cubic meters of gas from 20 wells in the province, according to the Business Monitor International. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Bloody nose for OFT in row over tobacco price-fixing

Tom Bawden Tuesday 13 December 2011

The Office of Fair Trading suffered a setback yesterday after a consortium of leading tobacco and retail groups overturned a previous ruling of unlawful pricing.

Imperial Tobacco, the maker of Golden Virginia rolling tobacco and Superkings, saw its £112.3m penalty reversed, and Co-op, Morrisons, Asda and Royal Dutch Shell were also successful in overturning their cases in front of the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Imperial said it would now apply to recover its “considerable” legal costs. The case had alleged that two manufacturers and 10 retailers fixed prices on cigarettes, hand-rolled tobacco, pipe tobacco and cigars between 2001 and 2003, resulting in a total of £225m in fines last year, the biggest the consumer watchdog had levied. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.