Old mineshaft in Angelholm, visible as indentation in the ground

When drilling for coal in Angelholm in the 1870’s and 1880’s, methane gas would shoot from the drillholes. Near Hoja, where our cinema is located, several thin layers of coal were found between 90 and 230 meters down. None was extracted. In 1877, a mining shaft was dug in the woods between the city of Angelholm and the seashore. A company from Cardiff in Wales assisted in the digging. 52 men worked in the shaft. It was 5 meters wide, and reached a depth of 39 meters before the project was aborted. No coal was extracted.

Between 2008 and 2011, Shell Exploration and Production obtained the rights to search around 25% of the area of Skane (Scania) for minerals, mainly along the Colonus sink. The Colonus sink stretches diagonally across Skane from the southeast corner to the northwest (our region), and contains fossile gases. Shell performed trial drills in three sites, and planned for extraction using fracking. Protests and appeals put a stop to these plans.

The methane gas that shot from the drillholes in Angelholm in the 1870’s was eventually collected in a gasbell and used to light up cowsheds and gasstoves in a nearby farm for a few decades. The gas was 210 million years old.

About the drills in Angelholm >

About fracking in Scania >