Irish Independent: San Leon set to be Europe's first gas fracking producer
Oisin Fanning's €130m-valued San Leon Energy looks set to produce Europe's first shale gas "fracking" production after passing a "major milestone" as testing at one of its Polish wells was successful.
Natural gas flowed from its Lewino well in a shale formation in the Baltic Basin in northern Poland at as much as 60,000 cubic feet per day during recent testing.
AIM-listed San Leon, which is backed by billionaire George Soros and BlackRock Inc, is headquartered in Dublin. It was set up by former MMI stockbrokers and Smart Telecoms boss Mr Fanning. Hedge fund Toscafund is also a major shareholding, boosting its stake to 20 per cent.
The firm is planning to start drilling a more productive horizontal well this summer, according to Dennis McKee, the chief executive officer of United Oilfield Services Sp. z o.o, which worked on San Leon's Lewino well.