The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have advised Peninsula’s wholly owned subsidiary Strata Energy, Inc. that the development of a deep disposal well to test subsurface conditions would be considered exploration and Strata can begin drilling without any further approval.

This decision allows the Company to proceed with DDW testing significantly ahead of original schedule and could see flow rates at the upper limits of expectation that would lead to significant capital expenditure reductions at the Lance Projects.

Construction and operation of up to five Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class 1 wells at the Lance Central Processing Plant site was approved by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) in April 2011.

At the time of WDEQ permit issuance, the NRC regulations classified the drilling of any deep disposal well as part of the operation of an ISR project and subsequently a NRC Source Material License (SML) or an Exception was required to develop and test a deep disposal well (DDW).

The DDW’S will be used to inject non-hazardous wastes at depths in excess of 8,000 feet below the surface in order to meet the water management requirements of the proposed operations at the Lance Projects.

Executive Chairman Gus Simpson stated “Proactive decision making like this demonstrates the NRC’s objective approach to the assessment of proposed ISR developments and its understanding of the value to Companies of obtaining project development information early”

Tags: Inc., Strata Energy