Cuadrilla Resources : COMPLETES COMMUNITY BENEFIT PAYMENTS TO LOCAL RESIDENTS

Cuadrilla is pleased to confirm it has completed all community benefit payments to local residents living near its shale gas exploration site at Preston New Road, Lancashire.

In total, 85% of those local residents entitled to a share of the £100,000 community payment for the second exploration well applied. Cuadrilla will make the money from unclaimed payments, which amounts to some £13,000, available for local projects via the Community Benefit Fund, administered by the Community Foundation for Lancashire.

Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla, said:

'We are delighted to have made these payments directly to local householders after listening to their views on how the community payment should be distributed. It was encouraging to see so many of those entitled for a share of the £100,000 applying, with over 240 households local to the Preston New Road exploration site benefiting. Together with over 50 local jobs created and nearly £5m being invested to date in Lancashire, our community benefits initiative is another important example of how we are committed to putting Lancashire first from our shale gas exploration.'

Following a consultation with the local community on how the latest payment should be spent, it was decided that the £100,000 should be split proportionately between all households located within one and a half kilometres of the site. Those households located within 1 kilometre of the centre of the Preston New Road site were each entitled to approximately £2,000 and those located between 1 and 1.5 kilometres entitled to approximately £150 each.