STA, 5 May 2022 - As a blanket ban on hydraulic fracturing in Slovenia entered into force on Thursday, the UK investor Ascent Resources, which is still in dispute with the state over the granting of permit to extract gas by means of fracking in Petišovci (NE), said it remained committed to defending its EUR 50 million investment.
"Ascent Resources and its subsidiary Ascent Slovenia have formally notified the Slovenian government of further breaches under the UK-Slovenia bilateral investment treaty and the Energy Charter Treaty," the company said in a press release published on its website.
It added that the government had been notified that the amendments to the mining act that "specifically prohibit holders of mining rights from carrying out the exploration or exploitation of hydrocarbons with the use of any hydraulic stimulation" had caused further considerable harm to its investment in Slovenia.
Ascent Resources said that it remained committed to defending its investment of over EUR 50 million in Slovenia and that it would "vigorously pursue its damages claim through in international arbitration".
It added that it sincerely hoped that an amicable solution to the dispute could be found and following the failure of earlier negotiations with the government, it welcomes any constructive proposals that compensate it for its losses.
Ascent Resources announced it would initiate arbitration proceedings against Slovenia over the dispute in March 2021 after the state had failed to set forward a damages proposal. The company has estimated damage to be in excess of EUR 100 million.
The announcement came after the Slovenian Environment Agency issued a decision that an environmental impact assessment is needed before a permit can be issued for extraction of gas in Petišovci by re-stimulating two currently producing wells as planned by Ascent Resources and its Slovenian partner Geoenergo.
