IGas nears fracking in North West
2 Sep 2014
Shale developer IGas yesterday revealed it was ready to design a fracking programme for its licensed areas in the North West of England and North Wales.
The company currently holds 10 development licenses in the region covering an area of 125,900ha, split between three fields in the Mersey Estuary, Dee Estuary and North Wales.
Speaking at the firm’s annual general meeting (AGM) in London yesterday, IGas chairman Francis Gugen said that last month’s securing of a rig to drill iGas’ Ellesmere Port exploration well paved the way for his firm to design a hydraulic fracturing (fracking) programme.
The company [has] sufficient information to be able to design an appropriate hydraulic fracture programme for the initial wells in the area
IGas chairman Francis Gugen
He said that the Ellesmere Port exploration well, which is expected to spud later this year, will mean the company has enough information to begin designing a hydraulic fracturing (fracking) plan for its licensed areas in the North West of England and North Wales.
“This well, which is a vertical exploration well, will be the third drilled in a sequence designed to give IGas a suite of results distributed across its licensed areas in the North West,” said Gugen.
“The exploratory work undertaken to date together with offset well data has given the company sufficient information to be able to design an appropriate hydraulic fracture programme for the initial wells in the area.
”This will prove invaluable for future planning applications for potential shale wells and the ability to demonstrate the commerciality of gas extraction from these deep formations.”
Licensing bids
Gugen also confirmed yesterday that IGas would be making multiple bids to develop shale reserves in the latest onshore oil & gas licensing round, which was launched by the government in July and is open to bids until the end of October.
“We will be active in bidding for various blocks in the recently announced 14th Round of onshore licensing,” said Gugen.
“Our wealth of background data and operator status means we are well placed to participate and we are in discussions with partners in respect of a number of blocks.”
Gugen added that results from 3-D seismic data acquisition in the East Midlands were now being analysed, with a view to selecting a site in that region for drilling in 2015.
Shareholders at the AGM yesterday also approved IGas’ proposed £117 million acquisition of rival firm Dart Energy, first announced in May, to create the UK’s largest shale gas developer.
