Whilst the drill bit is grinding away the following has now happened in Europe:
- The Troll Field in Norway is partially closed, due to unscheduled maintenance
- The Bacton interconnector is down, due to unspecified issues
- For this month only one LNG tanker is scheduled for Milford Haven
These three are critical for UK Gas Independence.
On top of this the following happened earlier today;
Baumgarten, the underground gas storage / distribution point in Austria for Russian gas to Europe has had a pipeline exploded. The facility is down. Italy has called 'State of Emergency' because it relies on this for its gas supplies.
And last, but not least; The Rough gas storage in the UK is pumping out its last reserves. After this it will go into scheduled refurbishment. So, zero contribution this winter.
This means the risk of the total gas system going down in the UK is real. Prices spiked already, without the Bacton impact, as that just happened.
We only need to see a 'white Christmas weather forecast' and UK could get into real trouble. An extra LNG tanker takes minimum 5 days to arrive once ordered.
This should justify a renewed discussion of Shale Development in the UK. Reclassify it as an Infrastructure Project of National Importance. Take away some red tape. Maybe don't take the handful of anarchists, swamps and google educated housewives in front of PNR gate too seriously.
Labour will be under pressure to come forward with a believable energy policy. The Torries already have it and support shale. Makes sense, as Bowland will bring 40 years of domestic clean fossil energy and energy independence to the country, as well as jobs, taxes etc.
Quite possibly this situation should be positive for AJL. If normal exploration continues, and flow tests deliver, then we are 50% owners of tens of billions of gas and oil. Our current enterprise value is a mere fraction of this.
