Reabold Resources plc (LON: RBD) has confirmed that preparatory work is set to begin at the West Newton natural gas project in East Yorkshire, ahead of the planned recompletion, stimulation and testing programme at the West Newton A-2 well.
Highlights:
- Notice provided that work will commence as part of the WNA-2 recompletion, stimulation and testing programme
- Authorities for Expenditure (“AFEs”) issued covering access road works and procurement of long-lead items, including specialty chemicals
- Final engineering activities and contract awards currently underway
- Operator plans to install a new completion string and undertake a testing programme
- Total gross programme cost estimated at approximately £2.5 million, excluding contingency; Reabold funded following its equity placing earlier this year
- Feasibility study underway to evaluate co-location of power generation and data centre assets at the West Newton site
- Community benefit fund associated with West Newton to be put in place
Rathlin Energy (UK) Ltd, operator of the PEDL183 licence containing West Newton, has issued notice that work will commence shortly, with Authorities for Expenditure already issued for access road works and the procurement of long-lead items, including specialist chemicals required for the stimulation programme.
Final engineering activities and contract awards are now underway. Subject to completion of the preparatory work, Rathlin intends to install a new completion string at WNA-2 and undertake a testing programme.
The total gross cost of the programme is estimated at approximately £2.5 million, excluding contingency. Reabold said it is funded for its share following the £4.16 million equity placing completed earlier this year.
The company believes the work represents a relatively low-cost and low-risk programme capable of providing important data to further derisk West Newton and help optimise future production wells.
Rathlin has also announced that a community benefit fund associated with West Newton will be established.
In parallel with the WNA-2 work, a feasibility study is underway to examine the potential co-location of power generation and data centre infrastructure at West Newton, using natural gas produced from the field to generate electricity for on-site facilities.
Reabold believes West Newton’s onshore location, scale and proximity to existing grid and transport infrastructure could make the project particularly well suited to such an application.
The proposal could potentially create a “behind-the-meter” power solution for UK digital infrastructure, providing an additional route to monetise West Newton’s gas alongside conventional development of the field.
The company highlighted the rapid growth in electricity demand from artificial intelligence and the wider digital economy, arguing that access to secure, scalable, affordable and reliable power has become an increasingly important constraint on new data centre developments.
West Newton is located onshore in East Yorkshire and is regarded by Reabold as one of the largest onshore hydrocarbon discoveries in the UK.
Reabold holds an approximately 69.9% economic interest in the PEDL183 licence and West Newton, through its approximately 79.8% shareholding in Rathlin, which owns 66.67% of the licence, together with Reabold’s direct 16.665% licence interest.
The company continues to believe West Newton has the potential to make a meaningful contribution to UK domestic energy supply and energy security.
Reabold co-chief executive Stephen Williams said the commencement of preparatory work represented a significant operational milestone for the project and an important step towards unlocking West Newton’s value.
Williams said Reabold remained highly confident in the project’s strategic potential given the scale of the resource, its onshore location and the increasing importance of domestic UK energy security.
He added that the data centre feasibility study could provide a particularly interesting additional opportunity, with West Newton gas potentially supplying reliable on-site power to energy-intensive digital infrastructure.
Reabold believes this could establish an additional value pathway for West Newton alongside its existing natural gas development plans, particularly as AI-driven growth increases demand for large-scale computing infrastructure and dependable electricity supplies.
