No surprise fracking was in the news this week and opponents of the process were celebrating a victory following Lancashire council’s decision to reject an application for a programme of four shale gas wells near Blackpool.
But, the real test for Lancashire councillors will come on Monday when a decision is made for a separate project - at Fylde, at Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, which planning officers have recommended should go ahead.
It was not unexpected that the council denied the application for fracking at the Roseacre Wood well site andCuadrilla, the shale gas firm pursuing the project, said it was “disappointed but not surprised”.
Also from the sector, shale gas firm IGas (LON:IGAS) told investors this week it was preparing to submit planning applications for several well sites.
"Over the next twelve months we anticipate acquiring further seismic data, securing new sites and submitting several planning applications for exploration wells and flow tests,” chief executive Stephen Bowler said in results.
“We will also drill further exploration/appraisal wells including at our site in the East Midlands and anticipate this will start in the first half of 2016.”
Elsewhere, independent Oil & Gas (LON:IOG) believes the gas resources across its Southern North Sea (SNS) acreage could be larger than previous estimates.
Consultant Baker Hughes has been working on a re-mapping of the Cronx and Elgood discoveries, with a view to removing certain uncertainties, and the scope of this work has now been extended.
Baker Hughes's analysis so far indicates Cronx and Elgood are not linked, but nonetheless it is anticipated that IOG's proven reserves (currently 3mln barrels oil equivalent) could more than double.
It is also indicated that the resource play beneath Blythe is a larger structure than first anticipated. A full report from Baker Hughes is expected in July.
Andes Energia (LON:AEN) chairman Nicolas Mallo Huergo told investors he was encouraged that the front runners in Argentina’s general election are ‘pro-business’.
AIM quoted Andes Energia produces almost 2,000 barrels of oil per day in Argentina, where crude is priced at US$75, and it is also the only UK listed company in the country’s potentially world-class Vaca Muerta shale.
Thirteen candidates have been selected for Argentina’s general election, which is expected to take place in October. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is not among them, as the country’s constitution allows no more two consecutive terms.
Huergo, in a statement ahead of Andes Energia’s AGM in London this week, told investors that trading has been in line with expectations.
Lekoil (LON:LEK) shares were boosted, up around 5%, after chief executive Olalekan Akinyanmi increased his shareholding.
The Lekoil boss purchased 193,950 shares at a price of 28.38p, according to a stock market statement this week.
Following the transaction, which was worth just over £55,000, Akinyanmi’s stake in the company increased to 11.5%.
In the coming weeks Lekoil is set for ‘first oil’ from the Otakikpo field in Nigeria, where production is targeted for ‘mid-2015’.
Elsewhere, New Zealand oil and gas explorer Mosman Oil & Gas (LON:MSMN) raised £400,000 just a week after an offer for Aussie oil peer MEO lapsed, it emerged.
Mosman, which received 2.44% acceptances for its all share offer, has issued the new shares at 2.5p.
The money will be used to complete due diligence on a potential acquisition and planning costs for a new well at Te Wiriki on its Murchison prospect.
Ascent Resources (LON:AST) shares advanced 35% on Wednesday after the Petišovci project was provisionally granted a permit.
The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Permit, awarded by the Slovenian authorities, will allow the company to progress plans for a gas processing facility associated with Petišovci.
The facility will enable the gas produced from two wells at Petišovci to be sufficiently upgraded so that it can be accepted into the Slovenia’s national network.
Madagascar Oil (LON:MOIL) has now submitted an environmental impact assessment for the initial phase of the Tsimiroro field development.
The submission to Madagascar’s Office Nationale de l'Environnement (O.N.E.) comes after the government approved the project’s development plan in April.
MOIL highlights that the EIA is significant as it is the first ever petroleum exploitation EIA to be conducted in Madagascar.
Union Jack Oil (LON:UJO) has increased its stake in the Biscathorpe prospect, onshore UK, to 12% from 10%.
It is the result of deals with UJO’s partners in the project Egdon Resources (LON:EDR) and Montrose Industries.
Approval was granted in March for a well at Biscathorpe, and it is anticipated that drilling can get underway in the fourth quarter of this year.
Biscathorpe lies about 15 km away from the Wressle discovery, where an extended production test programme began last week. UJO and Egdon are both partners Wressle, alongside Europa Oil & Gas (LON:EOG).