Prospex Energy has submitted a complete environmental impact assessment (EIA) for five new natural gas wells at the El Romeral concessions to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) in Madrid, Spain.
The company completed the EIA consultation process, which is required for regulatory approval, without objections from any of the 29 statutory consultees, according to the news release.
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These consultees included associations, local stakeholders, non-governmental organisations, regulators, residents and town councils.
MITECO will now review the submitted documentation before making a recommendation for a ministerial resolution to approve the well permits.
The ministry has indicated that this final stage of the approval process is expected to take between 90 and 180 days.
Prospex owns 100% of Tarba Energía, which operates the El Romeral site. The project includes three production concessions, El Romeral 1, 2 and 3.
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By GlobalDataThe five proposed wells are intended to target low-risk geological structures within the El Romeral concessions, targeting best estimate contingent and prospective gas resources of 18.2 billion cubic feet (bcf).
El Romeral holds an identified resource base exceeding 90bcf of gas.
Prospex CEO Mark Routh said: “We are delighted to be making good progress in the complex permitting process, which has now moved to the final stage.
“We remain highly confident in the overall value of the El Romeral asset and its future development potential and are pleased that the permitting process to drill five new natural gas wells has taken a significant step forward.
“The process to apply for permission to drill natural gas wells in Spain is lengthy and complex, and as we have experienced, comes with unexpected delays in recommended timelines.
“It is a testament to the professionalism and quality of our team and advisers that the EIA documentation submitted has resulted in no objections or concerns.”
During the regulatory review, Tarba has continued with preparatory work for drilling, including detailed well design, sourcing essential long-lead items, and evaluating potential contractors and equipment.
The company has also initiated a project to record background seismicity across the concessions to establish baseline conditions and show that future operations do not induce seismic events.
Prospex originally filed the drilling application with MITECO in May last year, along with a scientific analysis of potential environmental impacts.
The statutory EIA consultation was published in the State Official Bulletin in February this year, with a formal consultation period ending on 4 April 2025.
This process considered reports from the Geological Survey of Spain, the Hydrological Public Domain Authority and the environmental department in Seville.
