GDF Suez buys UK Shale gas assets in Bowland basin from Dart

GDF Suez buys UK Shale gas assets in Bowland basin from Dart

BY BRIAN SWINT

PARIS (Bloomberg) -- GDF Suez became the second utility to buy into United Kingdom shale with the purchase of assets from Dart Energy.

GDF will acquire a 25% interest in 13 licenses in northern England’s Bowland basin, Dart said in a statement. GDF will hand over 12 million in cash and cover 75% of the Australian company’s costs up to 27 million to fund a three year exploration campaign, the statement shows.

The Bowland basin, potentially holding about 1,300 Tcf of gas, has already lured United Kingdom utility Centrica, which bought a stake in Cuadrilla Resources acreage in June.GDF Suez faces a government ban on hydraulic fracturing in its home country, while British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged tax breaks to shale drillers.

“We are very confident about the potential of shale gas in the United Kingdom and its anticipated contributions to United Kingdom energy security,” said Jean-Marie Dauger, head of GDF Suez’s gas business. The investment “complements the large presence of the group in the United Kingdom.”

The deal will support the drilling of as many as 14 exploration wells four targeting shale gas and 10 coal-bed methane, Dart said.