Flintridge Resources Ltd was fined £120,000 after pleading guilty to exposing mine workers to risks from rock fall and drowning in Cavanacaw gold mine near Omagh, Northern Ireland. UNSTABLE In mid-November, the Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland (HSENI) prosecuted the company at Dungannon Crown Court for health and safety failings. “In July 2018, mine […]
Legal
NSTA investigates suspected breach of licence condition
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) is investigating an operator suspected of breaching one of its licence conditions. OBLIGATIONS The regulator will assess whether the licensee conducted a well test – intended to gauge whether or not the reservoir can produce oil or gas – without consent and failed to provide timely notification of the […]
Rockhopper faces application to annul €190m award
Rockhopper Exploration plc said that the Italian Government had applied for an annulment of €190 million compensation for the company over the Ombrina Mare oil field dispute. APPLICATION In August the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration held that Italy had breached its obligations under the Energy Charter Treaty. Rockhopper added that on 28 […]
IGas mulls legal action on hydraulic fracturing ban
IGas plc today said it reserved the right to pursue legal action to recover losses from its onshore gas licences following the Government’s decision to reimpose the ban on hydraulic fracturing. GAINSBOROUGH TROUGH The company was responding to the Prime Minister‘s decision yesterday to re-impose the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and a statement by the […]
US sanctions ‘unlikely’ to affect Condor
Condor Gold plc today said that the United States’ sanctions imposed on the Nicaraguan General Directorate of Mines were unlikely to have any impact on the company’s current operations at La India. SANCTIONS On 24 October, the US Treasury Department extended its existing sanctions “to hold the Ortega-Murillo regime accountable for its continued attacks on […]
Moratorium remains on hydraulic fracturing in England
The moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in England will remain in place, the new prime minister said today. FIRST BAN The Government first introduced the ban in November 2019 following reported earthquakes at Cuadrilla Resources’s shale gas extraction site in Preston, Lancashire. In April 2022 the Government ordered a scientific review on whether the extraction of […]