UK-listed oil and gas production and exploration company Ascent Resources said
on Wednesday it has received a provisional Integrated Pollution Prevention and
Control Permit from Slovenia’s Environmental Agency for the installation of a
gas gathering and separation station (GGSS) at its Petisovci field.
Once
the permit is declared legally valid, following a 30 day appeal period, the
company will be able to commence procurement and construction for the tight gas
project and related infrastructure, Ascent said in a press release.
The GGSS will enable the company to process the gas produced from its
two existing wells to a quality acceptable for the national grid network in
Slovenia.
"This is a major step forward in the development of the
Petisovci project. The award has been made after many months in-depth
consideration by the Slovenian authorities of all the issues in the development
of the project including detailed submissions from objectors to the
project,"Clive Carve, chairman of Ascent Resources, said.
Earlier this
year, Ascent secured with Henderson Global Investors Limited a 7 million British
pound ($11 million/9.8 million euro) loan facility to help fund the development
stage of the project.
The Petisovci project lies in the northeastern
corner of Slovenia between Hungary and Croatia. Ascent is the operator and its
joint venture partner on the project, Slovenia's Geoenergo, is the concession
holder. Based on the regional 3-D seismic, the project area contains substantial
tight gas reserves as well as shallower conventional oil and gas.