North Dee – PEDL 184 / PEDL 190

PEDL 184 and PEDL 190 are located in North Dee, incorporating the areas around Ellesmere Port and Runcorn. The area extends between the tidal estuary of the Dee and the Mersey, with the peninsula of the Wirral (Cheshire) lying between them. The area was awarded to a partnership of Nexen and IGas as part of the 13th round onshore licenses announced by the Secretary of State on 28 May 2008.

These licenses target the unworked Coal Bed Methane (CBM) potential of the Eastern extension of the North Wales Coalfields and the South western extension of the Lancashire Coalfields. These coals are proven to extend eastwards for at least 20 kilometres in the North Dee area from Buckley to Chester, and southwards from the Wirral to Wrexham.

The licence area lies on the south eastern margin of the East Irish Sea Basin and on the north western margin of the Permo-Triassic Cheshire basin, forming part of the larger Pennine Coal Measures Basin. The Westphalian Pennine Coal Measures Group of the Pennine Basin extends at outcrop or at subcrop across Northern England, to the West and East of the Pennines, Central England and North Wales. The license area forms part of the South westerly edge of this basin.

South western area of PEDL 190 includes the Collinge Borehole drilled by the National Coal Board as part of an old coalfield exploration program. The Collinge borehole demonstrates the presence of multiple thick (>1m) coal seams within the Upper Carboniferous, Westphalian. A National Coal Board depth structure map confirms the regional structure of the Coal Measures as dipping gently to the south east toward the Cheshire Basin.

It is the intention of the partnership to confirm the CBM production potential of each license by drilling a well into each PEDL from an onshore surface location, contingent upon achieving the required planning permission. Identification of potential well sites is ongoing.

Source:  Equipoise Solutions Limited Evaluation of the Coal Bed Methane Interests of IGas plc as published on 31st October 2008, a copy of which can be found in the investor section of the website.

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