The Australian mining group, on which Cuadrilla relies for funding, has been given just over a week to refinance multi-million dollar debts.

AJ Lucas (AJL), which owns 96% of Cuadrilla, announced today that it had been given an extension on two debt facilities, reportedly totalling $A35.7m, which had been due to mature this month (April 2025).

The company has said it has a further $A88.3m in loans due to mature in October 2025.

Earlier this year, an auditor  said there was a “material uncertainty” over the finances of the Cuadrilla group. The auditor said the maturity of AJL’s debt obligations were “a key factor in AJL’s ability to continue as a going concern”.

All 11 Cuadrilla companies reported in January 2025 that they were dependent on the financial support of AJL to continue to operate.

Seven Cuadrilla subsidiaries involved in oil and gas exploration reported they had “no sustainable income stream”.

They include Cuadrilla Bowland Limited, operator of the mothballed Preston New Road fracking site, near Blackpool. It is currently plugging and abandoning the wells at Preston New Road.

Cuadrilla Bowland is required to restore the site to farmland by Sunday 8 June 2025, just 40 days away. Opponents of operations at Preston New Road have repeatedly raised concerns about the company’s ability to fund site clean-up and restoration.

“Advanced discussions”

AJL said in a statement today that it was “in advanced discussions regarding the refinancing the Group’s existing debt arrangements”. It said:

“The Group’s lenders have agreed to extend the April 2025 maturity of the existing Senior Syndicated and Junior Loan Notes facilities to 9 May 2025 to allow finalisation of the refinancing. AJL will provide an update to the market in due course.”

AJL reported in February 2025 that it engaged an external consultant to help identify a refinancing package. At the time, it said:

“the board is in the process of assessing its financial options and has confidence it will either rollover or refinance the existing debt obligations before April 2025.”

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