REG - Prospex Energy PLC - Public Gazetting of Statutory EIA Consultation

Prospex EnergyAnnouncement

20/02/2025 07:15

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RNS Number : 7583X  Prospex Energy PLC  20 February 2025

Prospex Energy plc / Index: AIM / Epic: PXEN / Sector: Oil and Gas

 

20 February 2025

 

Prospex Energy plc

("Prospex" or the "Company")

 

Public Gazetting of the Statutory EIA Consultation to drill five further wells
on El Romeral Production Concessions

 

Prospex Energy plc (AIM: PXEN), the AIM quoted investment company focused on
European gas and power projects, is pleased to announce that following the
initiation earlier this month of the Statutory Consultation of the
Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") for the application to drill five new
natural gas wells, the EIA consultation has been publicly gazetted on the
State Official Bulletin on 19 February 2025.
https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-B-2025-5828
(https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-B-2025-5828) .

 

The purpose of the public gazetting is to engage with all citizens,
stakeholders, including up to 29 statutory consultees and local regulators,
institutions or associations to address questions and concerns on any
environmental impact of the project.

 

The local governmental authority alongside the Department of Industry and
Energy of the sub-delegation of the Government in Seville are responsible for
the next stage of the application process.

 

The application to drill five new natural gas wells on the production
concessions owned by Tarba Energía S.L. ("Tarba") known as El Romeral 1, 2
& 3 was submitted to the central Spanish regulatory authority in Madrid in
May 2024 together with the full scientific analysis and assessment of any
potential effects that the proposed drilling project may have on the
environment.

 

Officially, this statutory consultation period is open for 30 working days,
during which time Tarba will respond to questions and requests for further
information from interested parties.

 

Tarba generates electricity at its El Romeral power plant from its own natural
gas production from the concessions, which in July 2024, were granted a
ten-year extension by the central Spanish Ministry to July 2034.  The five
wells are planned to target the five optimum structures on the El Romeral
concessions, which will produce biogenic gas from shallow subsurface
horizons.  The depth of the wells average about 700 metres and will each
take no longer than 3 to 4 weeks to drill once a suitable drilling rig has
been mobilised.

 

At the end of the gazetting period, the sub-delegation of the Government in
Seville will report back to the Ministry in Madrid with its findings and
recommendations.  From this point, the Ministry in Madrid targets between 90
to 180 days for the final review and approval, giving time to gather its
internal and final EIA evaluation, together with all the mandatory statutory
reports from the public administrations and institutions before it can issue
an approval resolution granting the permits to drill the five wells.

 

Whilst Tarba waits for the regulatory approvals process to complete, it will
progress with key drilling preparatory work, including detailed well design,
sourcing of essential long-lead items, and securing the necessary contractors
to deliver the five new production wells.

 

Mark Routh, Prospex's CEO, commented:

"This is yet another positive step in the process to approve the permits to
drill five new wells on the El Romeral concessions.  Tarba will now engage
with interested parties mostly located in Andalucía on any aspects of the
drilling plans, having prepared a thorough and scientifically based assessment
of the impact on the local environment of the proposed project.  Natural gas
continues to play an essential role in Europe's energy security and the
ecological transition process.  The production of shallow biogenic gas from
the onshore El Romeral concessions will have a carbon footprint which will be
a small fraction of the comparative carbon footprint resulting from the
importation of natural gas by pipeline, and even smaller when compared to
liquefied natural gas imports.

 

"It is important to highlight that the El Romeral power plant will reach full
output capacity from production of just two of these five wells.  Any extra
gas from the remaining new wells or any future wells drilled on the
concessions will support expansion plans at the power plant as well as the
ability to supply natural gas directly to the grid.  We are very excited by
the development potential of El Romeral and will continue to keep shareholders
updated on the permitting process."

 

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of
the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended by virtue of the Market
Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

 

* * ENDS * *

 

For further information visit www.prospex.energy (http://www.prospex.energy)
or contact the following:

 

 Mark Routh                        Prospex Energy PLC            Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177
 Ritchie Balmer                    Strand Hanson Limited         Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409 3494

Rory Murphy
 Andrew Monk (Corporate Broking)   VSA Capital Limited           Tel: +44 (0) 20 3005 5000

Andrew Raca (Corporate Finance)
 Ana Ribeiro / Charlotte Page      St Brides Partners Limited    Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177

 

Notes

Prospex Energy PLC is an AIM quoted investment company focussed on high impact
onshore and shallow offshore European opportunities with short timelines to
production.  The Company's strategy is to acquire undervalued projects with
multiple, tangible value trigger points that can be realised within 12 months
of acquisition and then applying low-cost re-evaluation techniques to identify
and de-risk prospects.  The Company will rapidly scale up gas production in
the short term to generate internal revenues that can then be deployed to
develop the asset base and increase production further.

 

About El Romeral and Tarba

The El Romeral power plant is operated by Tarba, which is based near Carmona
east of Seville in the province of Andalucía, Spain.  The El Romeral asset
is co-owned through Tarba by Prospex which has a 49.9% working interest and
Warrego Energy Limited which has a 50.1% working interest. Warrego Energy is
now wholly owned by Hancock Energy (PB) Pty Ltd in Perth Western Australia.

 

The El Romeral gas and power project in Spain, has gas production wells which
supply gas to an 8.1MW power plant near Carmona in Southern Spain.  It is
currently operating at about 30% of its full capacity because Tarba is waiting
on the permits to drill five further infill wells on the concessions to
increase production.  Tarba is already categorised as a hybrid energy
provider with the successful installation of photovoltaic panels on the roof
of the plant in August 2022.  Tarba sells electricity generated from the
plant on the spot market in Spain.  The El Romeral licences comprise three
contiguous production concessions.

 

Tarba is pioneering a new hybridisation model that combines natural gas and
solar energy as sources for electricity generation in the ecological
transition process by developing a project to produce 5MW electricity using
photovoltaic solar energy ("Project Helios").

 

In 2023 and 2024, Tarba supplied enough energy to cover the electricity
consumption of approximately 6,700 homes in the area, even when operating the
facility at one third of its capacity.  With future wells to be drilled on
the concessions, the plant is expected to reach its maximum nameplate
production capacity to sell 8.1MW of power into the grid. The combination of
further natural gas extracted from the concessions and the new photovoltaic
generation is expected to cover the energy supply of 20,100 homes per year.

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