A new report shows a bright spot in the future of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, despite an admission by Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. that its use of the gas extraction technique caused two small earthquakes near an English village last year.

In its report yesterday, the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) gave Cuadrilla the go-ahead to resume its use of fracturing on the condition that it establish stronger safety procedures and more seismic monitoring.

Cuadrilla CEO Mark Miller welcomed the report's findings, but some industry experts say the company should have already taken steps to prevent quakes in the region.

"This part of Lancashire is like a pack of playing cards vertically between two books -- very slippery planes of movement," said Stuart Haszeldine, a geology professor at the University of Edinburgh.

Cuadrilla was the first company to conduct exploratory fracturing for shale gas in the United Kingdom, which Cuadrilla says has opened up enough reserves to fuel the region for 56 years. The company's drilling operations came to a screeching halt when it announced that fracturing at one of its Lancashire wells caused two minor quakes last April and May.

Researchers attributed the shaking to a combination of fracturing and a highly unusual mix of geological characteristics at the well site, which are unlikely to be seen at other sites.

The authors of the DECC report said they hesitated to call the conditions at the Cuadrilla well unique and therefore recommended that drillers use smaller water injections and install "traffic light" seismic sensor equipment that can detect tremors of magnitude 0.5 or higher and immediately send a signal to stop fracturing (Pilita Clark, Financial Times [subscription required], April 17). -- PK