Cuadrilla’s Australian owner has refinanced its debt, it announced this morning.

The refinancing deal was important to the continued operation of the Cuadrilla companies in the UK.

All 11 Cuadrilla companies involved in onshore oil and gas depend on the financial support of AJL.

Cuadrilla Bowland is required to restore the mothballed Preston New Road shale gas site near Blackpool by Sunday 8 June – just 31 days away.

AJ Lucas (AJL) had set a deadline of today (9 May 2025) to deal with loans that matured at the end of April.

The mining group said in a statement to investors it had increased a senior facility from Balmain by $15m to $50m and secured a two-year extension on the loan.

Some of the extra money has been used to repay the remaining $13m on the junior facility, it said.

AJL also announced it had negotiated an extension of its loan from Kerogen Capital to July 2027. The terms of this loan had also been amended, AJL said, to “give the Group the opportunity to materially reduce the cost of this debt”.

AJL’s chief executive, Greg Runge, said:

“We have been successful in negotiating improvements to the terms of the Group’s finance facilities that will lead to significant savings, provide real opportunities to accelerate the deleveraging of the Group debt while offering flexibility to invest where favourable opportunities present.

“The improved terms of the finance arrangements reflect the Group’s capital discipline, as shown by its strategy of repaying existing debt while investing in appropriate capital equipment to sustain earnings and support future growth.”

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