LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - Canada-listed, Turkey-focused gas firm Valeura VLE.TO said on Wednesday it expects its shares to start trading on the London Stock Exchange in a non-dilutive secondary listing next week, a move it had flagged before.
Valeura is testing onshore gas resources in Turkey's Thrace basin, where it operates with Norway's Equinor EQNR.OL , with a few to extract gas by fracking.
Toronto-listed Valeura and its partners sit on 20 trillion cubic feet, or roughly 3.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, of potential gas and condensate resources two hours from Istanbul, which they are fracking at a depth of more than 3 km (1.9 miles).
"Subject to final approval by the UK Listing Authority ... unconditional dealing in the shares on the LSE is expected to commence on or around April 25, 2019 under the ticker symbol VLU," it said.
"The shares will also continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. All shares will become fully fungible between the two exchanges. For clarity, the company is not issuing any new equity at this time, and accordingly, the additional listing is non-dilutive."
The London listing would help fund future drilling in the basin, the company has said. energy giant Equinor EQNR.OL got an early foot in the door with a 50 percent stake in the deep gas project. It is paying for seismic data and two test wells and is expected to take over operation of the site at the end of the year.
Valeura could also sell at least part of its stake before the project goes into full commercial production.
Turkey, which imports virtually all of its gas and is looking to lessen its dependence on Russian energy, supports the project.
Valeura says it has not encountered any local protests such as those seen in Britain, which is currently the only European country with active shale operations.