IGas agrees joint venture deal
GAS company IGas, which is drilling for shale gas in the Liverpool Bay area, has formed a joint venture with an Irish company that will give it more access to rig equipment and expertise.
Last year London-based IGas won planning permission for a full production site at Ellesmere Port, which is expected to produce between 4 and 10 million standard cubic feet of gas a day.
It also has a pilot well head at Doe Green near Warrington and has submitted for permission at a further four full production sites across the North West, under a framework agreement with Peel Environmental that gives it access to sites within Peel’s land.
The AIM-listed firm said it had reached an agreement with Dundalk-based Meehan Drilling that would give it access to at least 120 days of drilling capacity this year.
Chief executive John Blaymires said: “This joint venture will have significant strategic and tactical importance as the company continues to grow. This joint venture secures for IGas the ability to fulfill the 2011 objective of delivering a commercial production site, whilst widening the scope of our activity and will be a critical element of the 2012-plus delivery capability.”
One of the firm’s largest investors is Leeds lawyer Peter Levine who holds 12%. Mr Levine set up Russia-focused Imperial Energy which was sold in 2008 to Indian state-run Oil and Natural Gas Company Videsh (OVL) in a deal which valued it at £1.4bn.
