U.K. shale driller Cuadrilla names former BHP executive as CEO June 15, 2012. Cuadrilla Resources Ltd., a U.K. shale-gas explorer that suspended drilling in northwest England after causing minor earthquakes, named a former head of BHP Billiton Ltd.’s petroleum unit as chief executive officer (CEO). Francis Egan will take up the CEO post on July 9. He replaces Mark Miller, who will stay with the company as director of the Bowland Shale exploration and development program, the company said. Cuadrilla, which says it’s found more natural gas trapped in the local shale rock than Iraq has in its entire reserves, plans to pursue hydraulic fracturing in three wells. The program hinges on getting final approval from Britain’s energy department, which called for an assessment of fracking after two tremors near Blackpool.