GDF Suez – which is currently building a major new office in Aberdeen – has announced plans to hunt for shale gas in Britain.
The French utility firm has signed a deal with UK-based Dart Energy to begin fracking in Cheshire and the east Midlands.
GDF Suez will buy a 25% share in Dart’s 13 onshore licences for £7.4million, followed by £16.7million for ongoing costs.
The licences overlay the Bowland Shale area, estimated to contain 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas.
The firm is currently building a new HQ in Aberdeen to meet its rapidly expanding exploration and production operations in the central and southern North Sea from spring next year.
Its £1.4billion Cygnus development was sanctioned in August 2012 and is expected to contribute 5% to UK gas production at its peak.
The discovery – the largest gas find in the southern North Sea for 25 years – is expected to start producing gas at the end of 2015.
Alongside Dart, the company said several wells will be drilled in the 532 sq miles Bowland area, if the government allows.
A number of exploration wells will be drilled initially.
Jean-Marie Dauger, chief executive of GDF Suez, said: “We are very confident about the potential of shale gas in the UK, and its anticipated contributions to UK energy security.”
He said the deal marked the company’s first investment in UK shale gas.
Mr Dauger added: “We look forward to working with our partner, Dart Energy, to unlock the potential of these licences.”
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
China Petrochemical – the parent company of Sinopec – has developed pre-cracking evaluation technology, large-scale cracking design and post-cracking evaluation technology for horizontal shale gas wells.
Sinopec has drilled 53 shale gas wells, 42 of which are horizontal.
Currently, five wells are in trial production at Jiaoshiba area of Fuling. With single-well output ranging from 58,000 to 448,000 cubic meters per day, the combined output of the wells is around 1 million cubic metres per day.
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