North Sea pioneer Algy Cluff’s coal gasification business is well placed to set to help secure UK energy supply, a report has claimed.
Cluff Natural Resources, which owns a number of near-shore licensed fields where coal can used to produce “syngas”, is estimated to be sitting on a potential 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas on a conservative conversion, analysts at brokers Panmure Gordon said.
The entrepreneur, who was involved in the discovery of the Buchan field nearly 40 years ago, set up the firm in 2012 and owns licenses holding near shore coal deposits including in the Dee estuary.
In the 43-page report, Panmure said the process of underground coal gasification (UGC), could “potentially unlock huge, untapped indigenous coal resources, helping to secure the country’s energy supply for many years against a current backdrop of increasing reliance on imported gas”.
The analysts added that syngas, the product of UGC, has yet to be used on a commercial scale, but that the technology is well understood and has been developed through numerous worldwide trials over a number of years.
The AIM-listed firm’s shares rose 3.5% to 3.75p yesterday.
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