The executive chair of Angus Energy, George Lucan, is to step down next month.
In a statement to investors, he said he would leave on 14 August 2023. The search for a new non-executive chair has begun and several candidates have been approached, the statement said.
Lord Lucan was appointed Angus Energy’s managing director in January 2019, when he replaced Paul Vonk.
He moved to executive chair in board changes in April 2023, with the appointment of Richard Herbert as chief executive.
Lord Lucan said he would “remain available as a resource for the Company” into the autumn.
£20m refinancing
The statement also gave details of a loan facility of up to £20m for an 18-month term, which could be extended to a total of three years.
The loan, being negotiated with Aleph Commodities Limited, would refinance previous company borrowing totalling more than £16m, the statement said.
Angus Energy is also in talks with another financial provider over pre-payments for gas and restructuring hedges.
£6m bridge facility
The company also confirmed that it had approval for a £6m debt facility.
This is designed to meet obligations for financial hedges not settled in July and August 2022 because of the late resumption of production at Saltfleetby in Lincolnshire.
It would also provide funds for capital and operational spending, the statement said.
Gas storage plans
Three companies, described as “major integrated gas players” have expressed an interested in long-term gas storage at Saltfleetby, the statement added.
Last month, Angus Energy said in interim accounts it was planning new wells at Saltfleetby for gas extraction that would also have potential for storage.
The Saltfleetby field has previously been estimated to have storage capacity of 700-800 million cubic meters, making it one of the largest onshore storage facilities in the UK.
Angus Energy said it was working on a planning application and technical evaluation of the project.
The statement said:
“The monetization of the gas storage would provide an additional revenue stream for the Company and the Company expects to select a strategic partner by year end on this project.”
DrillOrDrop interview with Lord Lucan in 2019
- Angus Energy’s Balcombe oil site in West Sussex (previously drilled by Cuadrilla) is at the centre of a legal challenge that will be heard at the High Court next week. DrillOrDrop will be reporting from the court. More details
DRILL OR DROP? 
Good for Angus, supplying UK with a facility where it can take imported gas from overseas and stuff below UK ground, whilst the gas sitting under UK ground already, just sits! (Apart from this one site where it is being extracted first to make space.)