Rathlin Energy Applies for Mini Fall-off Test in the UK
Rathlin Energy, a small exploration company with assets in Great Britain and Ireland, is planning to gather information to determine whether the Upper Visean/Lower Namurian and the Carboniferous formations can be potentially addressed with a hydraulic fracturing program.
Rathlin Energy applied for environmental permits for two wells in East Riding of Yorkshire, one between Beverley and Aldbrough, the second two miles west of Beverley.
The documents say that the intention of the ‘mini fall-off test is not to fracture the formation but to establish if and at what pressure the formation becomes permeable. The information gathered during the mini-fall test will help determine whether the formation is capable of being hydraulically fractured.’
This is just a test phase, and any eventual hydraulic fracturing would require additional applications.
According to the Environment Agency, the company applied for an environmental permit for ‘the management of extractive mining waste, management of naturally occurring radioactive material and flaring of gas resulting from the prospecting for oil and gas.’ That is the case both at Crawberry Hill Wellsite and at West Newton Wellsite.
The documents by the Environment Agency announced a public consultation to gather the ‘concerns, or local environmental factors, that we may not be otherwise aware of.’
Public consultations are part of every oil and gas application for planning permission, which is required for each stage of exploration, appraisal and production. But in this case, people’s participation does not seem to be a central component. Public consultations are said to refer to something that already happened.
According to a story published by local newspaper Hull Daily Mail, Ratlhin stated that this is a retrospective application for environmental permits, “which are needed due to a change in the legislation after a legal challenge last year. This isn’t an application for a new drilling but relates to the operation we have already carried out at Fosham.”
The press office for Yorkshire operations did not respond to several calls.
RATHLIN ENERGY: IN YORKSHIRE SINCE 2008
The company, wholly owned by Canada’s Connaught Oil &Gas, follows the footsteps of Cuadrilla Resources, IGas Energy and Dart Energy. At the same time, so far, it has not experienced the strong confrontation the other small companies experienced in the last months. Rathlin Energy’s experience looks different.
Connaught Oil &Gas has experience in Canada’s conventional and unconventional oil and gas industry. Currently, it is pursuing light oil in southern Alberta and southeast Saskatchewan.
According to the parent company, Rathlin Energy (UK) drilled a first exploratory well in the Humber basin at Crawberry Hill in June 2013. It drilled a second exploratory well at West Newton, concluding its operations in September 2013.
Despite the clear Government’s endorsement, the United Kingdom is doing little progress toward commercial production, as public opposition clearly remains the main hurdle.
Sergio Matalucci