UK-based Cluff Natural Resources says it has made "significant progress" on its plans for exploration drilling in southern North Sea licenses.

The company was formed to exploit underground coal gasification (UCG), but it is also exploring for natural gas in the southern North Sea, on which it has been working with Halliburton Manufacturing and Services through a memorandum of understanding.

Cluff says it and Halliburton are currently working together on a structure which will facilitate and accelerate the drilling of one or more wells on the licenses.

Cluff was provisionally awarded five licences carrying 11 blocks in the UK's 28th Offshore Licensing Round. All of the blocks are in the southern North Sea, close to the Breagh gas field.

Halliburton is also providing technical and geological assistance in the development of Cluff's southern North Sea assets, as well as its Kincardine UCG Project in the Firth of Forth, Scotland.

The technical support is being used to develop the proposed submission of a planning application for a UCG production test at Kincardine.

Underground coal gasification is the conversion of in-situ coal into a mixture of gases often referred to as “syngas” which can be used for power generation or other purposes. It is a concept which dates back to more than a century ago but interest has recently been re-ignited in it.

Another company, FiveQuarter Energy, based in Newcastle, is also investigating the concept and has developed a proprietory extraction method called Deep Gas Winning.

The company, set up by oil industry veteren and entrepreneur Algy Cluff, now has eight UCG licenses in the UK, which it is now assessing in order to develop a demonstrator project.

In 1975, Algy was involved in the discovery of the Buchan oil field, the 14th discovery made in the UK North Sea.

Source: www.oedigital.com

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