Third Energy Must File Accounts before Frack
UK producer Third Energy is yet to file its accounts for the year ending 2016, despite the deadline having been September 2017, and until it has done so it cannot proceed to hydraulically fracture its Kirby Misperton well in North Yorkshire in northern England. This is despite all the other technical targets being achieved, it said January 26.
A company spokesman said: “After almost four years of planning and preparation, we are delighted that the Secretary of State is satisfied that Third Energy has met all of the thirteen technical requirements set out in section 4A of the Petroleum Act 1998. Our annual accounts are being finalised and we will now be working with the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and the Oil and Gas Authority towards achieving hydraulic fracturing consent from the Secretary of State.”
UK Business and Energy Secretary of State Greg Clark said in a written statement January 24: "I note that as of January 24, Third Energy UK Gas Limited and other related companies had yet to submit their accounts for the accounting period ending in December 2016, despite a statutory deadline of September 30 2017 for them to do so.
"I have therefore asked the Oil and Gas Authority to seek further financial information from the company, including the required set of up-to-date accounts, to inform my decision.
"I have also asked the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to assess the financial resilience of the applicant, including its ability to fund decommissioning costs. Once I have received this assessment I will inform the Oil and Gas Authority whether I am satisfied with the application as required by the 1998 Act.
Third Energy has been hoping to frack in Kirby Misperton since May 2016 when its application was granted approval by the county council, a decision that was challenged and cleared the final judicial hurdle in December 2016 when the English High Court upheld a local authority approval of its fracking permit. Third Energy was owned by Barclays bank-owned Barclays Natural Resource Investments business. BNRI, including Third Energy, was spun off in 2015 as a management buyout into Global Natural Resource Investments (GNRI), which is also linked to Dutch offshore gas field developer Tulip Oil.