Page 15 - EurOil Week 14 2022

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

Cuadrilla gets extra time

at UK shale site

UK THE UK’s upstream regulator has withdrawn its plugged and suspended until at least the end of
order to Cuadrilla Resources to plug the coun- June 2023, Cuadrilla said. The company called
The ruling Conservative try’s only active shale gas wells, just as the gov- for an evaluation of their production potential
party is shifting its ernment is understood to be reconsidering its to be undertaken during this suspension period.
position. stance on hydraulic fracturing. “I am delighted that the regulator has taken
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) the sensible decision not to abandon the UK’s
told Cuadrilla to permanently plug the wells at only two viable shale gas wells at this time of
its Preston New Road site in northern England soaring gas prices,” Cuadrilla CEO Francis Egan
in early February. The company lamented at the said in a statement. “It is widely acknowledged
site that the decision would mean the 37.6 trillion that natural gas will continue to play a key role
cubic metres of gas in the Bowland Shale forma- in UK energy supply for many decades to come,
tion would “continue to sit unused – when just even as the country transitions to a net-zero CO2
10% of this volume could meet UK gas needs for economy.”
50 years.” He added that the company remains
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative “convinced that the Bowland Shale gas resource
Party banned the hydraulic fracturing technique has the potential to be a very significant con-
needed to exploit shale gas in late 2019 ahead of tributor to UK energy supply and in particular
a general election, even though the party had in a source of cost-effective fuel for heating UK
the past been supportive of unconventional gas homes and businesses.”
development. But the government now says it UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told
will consider lifting the ban as part of a number the UK parliament on March 9 that “it didn’t
of measures to reduce energy costs amid sky- necessarily make sense” to fill the Cuadrilla wells
high gas prices across Europe. with concrete so that they could not be reopened
The two wells will instead only be temporarily at a later point. ™

Ithaca snaps up North Sea Sumitomo unit

UK ITHACA Energy, controlled by Israel’s Delek Asagao, K2 and Shinoi exploration prospects
Group, announced on March 31 it had reached with shares of 100%, 50% and 100% respectively,
Summit is shifting away a deal to acquire 100% of UK North Sea rival and 40% positions in the Tangram Energy-op-
from oil and gas. Summit Corp., controlled by Japan’s Sumitomo, erated Charles-Mimas, Eldon and Thunderball
for $224mn. prospects.
The deal marks a further expansion for Ithaca Summit last year announced a strategic
in the UK North Sea, as the company bucks the shift, stating that it would move its focus away
trend that has seen many traditional oil and gas from fossil fuels and towards lower-carbon
companies leave the high-cost region in recent energy. It aspires to become a leading player
years, selling their assets to private equity-backed in the development of low-carbon energy in
players. It will also see Sumitomo withdraw from the country in the 2020s and beyond. Sum-
the North Sea completely. mit recently said it would divest its upstream
The agreement was reached at the end of Feb- oil and gas assets, while a new sister company
ruary, Ithaca revealed in its financial results for called SEEL would take over its low-carbon
2021. The transaction assesses Summit’s enter- energy business.
prise value at $148mn, and also includes $70mn “The aim is that SEEL will become a vehicle
of cash and equivalents. Once closed, pending for Sumitomo Corp’s future interests in hydro-
standard regulatory approval, it will have an gen and low-carbon energy businesses in the
effective date of January 1, 2021. UK, particularly those related to repurposing
Summit generates its money from a 2.2% and decarbonisation of existing oil and gas
interest in the TotalEnergies-operated Elgin infrastructure, and utilisation of Sumitomo’s
Franklin gas project in the UK North Sea, as and SEPL’s existing skills and experience in the
well as stakes of 1.2% and 0.97% in Ineos’ SEAL subsurface, engineering, offshore and renewable
gas and GAEL oil pipelines. It also operates the technologies,” Summit said. ™

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