May 26

More Thoughts on European Shale from EUCERS

By Curve shale gas in Europe No Comments »

Natural Gas for Europe shared an article today, that offers some fresh insight into shale gas in Europe:

The always excellent European Energy Review has an article on the geo-economic blessings of shale gas titled ‘An offer Europe can’t refuse’.

In an interview with EER, Frank Umbach, director at the The European Centre for Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS) and co-author of the recent report ‘Strategic Perspectives of Unconventional Gas’, says that established European energy producers have been skeptical of shale gas, due in part to not wanting to offend Russian gas monopoly Gazprom.

The article point to other reasons (or excuses, depending upon your viewpoint), as to why shale gas development is not being pursued at the pace that Umbach believes it merits.

Read the article from the European Energy Review HERE (registration required)

Source: Natural Gas for Europe

Tagged with: • • • • •
Mar 30

Polish Delegation Visits Western Virginia University to Learn About Natural Gas

By Curve natural gas in Europe No Comments »

WBOY-TV of Clarksburg, Virginia aired a segment yesterday on a visiting delegation from Poland.  The group of research and energy policy leaders were visiting West Virginia University to learn about the natural gas industry and build the foundation of new partnerships.  The broadcast cited the primary purpose of the trip as:

“…an introduction for representatives from two Polish universities and members of the Polish government to West Virginia University and its energy programs. The delegation’s aim is to collaborate with WVU on new technology and training.”

Click here to watch the entire news segment from WBOY.

Tagged with: • • • •
Mar 16

America’s Natural Gas Alliance Producers Response to the Movie ‘Gasland’

By Curve hydraulic fracturing No Comments »

America’s Natural Gas Alliance recently published an article and short video in response to claims made in the movie Gasland.  The ANGA film and article can be found by clicking here.

According to the ANGA, Gasland erroneously identifies the natural gas industry as being responsible for certain environmental contamination.  Among other sources, the ANGA cites reports produced by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) and the Environmental Protection Agency, which conclude that the natural gas industry is not to blame for the specific events detailed in the movie.

The COGCC Report addresses claims made by the filmmakers about flammable tap water in the state that directly from the film that directly contradict the COGCC’s research and findings.  Their investigation found that the methane in the Colorado tapwater was “biogenic” in nature, meaning it was naturally occurring and that his water well was drilled into a natural gas pocket.

The EPA’s Update on Dunkard Creek summarizes the findings of an investigation that links a 35 mile fish kill to a coal run off, as opposed to Gasland’s attribution to natural gas.

Tagged with: • • • • •
Mar 09

Horizontal Drilling an Oil & Gas Game-Changer

By Curve Shale gas production No Comments »

Source: SeekingAlpha.com

Over the last decade, more and more North American onshore oil and gas (O&G) production has come from past-producing deposits and shale. In this exclusive interview with The Energy Report, Wellington West Capital Oil & Gas Analyst Kevin Shaw talks about the technology behind this shift and how it’s affecting sector plays domestically. He also discusses what’s happening on the international circuit as North American E&P companies take their newfound know-how and multistage horizontal fracking expertise to new oil and gas hotspots in places like Argentina, Europe and New Zealand.

The Energy Report: Technology is changing the exploration landscape. It has enabled companies to reach untapped oil and gas in what were previously considered non-economical parts of many conventional producing reservoirs and to enter into many unconventional shale plays. How is this changing the game for North American exploration and production (E&P) companies?

Kevin Shaw: What’s old is new in terms of those existing pools, especially in the Western Canadian Basin. It’s all about going into poor-quality rock, which over the last 30 years typically would have been uneconomic to drill vertically. Horizontal drilling can open up more reservoir rock, connect the wellbore to more reservoirs, go into tighter sands with multistage fracture completions and increase recovery factors to increase reserves and production within the Western Canadian Basin. With multistage fracs, what was old once is now new, and it’s really revitalized the industry.

The use of horizontals started largely in the southeast Saskatchewan Bakken play, which translated down to North Dakota, and also moved into the U.S. shale plays (Marcellus, Eagle Ford, etc.) and the Canadian Montney formations on the gas side. Now horizontal multistage fracs are being utilized in a big way in both the Cardium and the Viking oil resource plays. The Beaverhill Lake is another zone coming into play, and there are several other zones of interest. In the Cardium, for example, they’re now extending lateral lengths of horizontals, putting in more fracs and getting better production and well results month-to-month out of the gate, as well as getting more reserves booked to each well they drill. This has changed rapidly over the last 12 months.

So it’s game on in a big way for technology; it’s “game on” for many of the older pools that had been considered depleted. And it’s an evolving space, with a lot of technology that keeps changing all the time. Companies are even starting to use horizontal frac technology with conventional pools to increase recovery factors and production reserves. The game has changed in a big way over the last few years. It’s great for service companies as well as E&Ps. Well by well, pool by pool, production rates are being enhanced in most new plays.

…

TER: Will the time come when the unconventional plays provide the majority of onshore oil production?

KS: In specific areas around the world, you can see a significant amount of capital spending over the next 10 years go into unconventional plays, but will it drive global production and supply? An awful lot of conventional reserves still supply the market, so I wouldn’t go so far as to say unconventional plays will be the key driver. Still, it’s going to be a key part of the evolution of gas and oil in a lot of places, not just in North America but internationally as well.

Right now, there’s an effort to prove up European shale gas in multiple areas. You’re seeing what’s happening in Poland with ConocoPhillips (COP), BNK Petroleum Inc. (BKX) and others. That could potentially change the game for the European gas market over the next 10 years. It’s not going to happen right away, because it will take time to build the infrastructure to put discoveries into production, but in the 5– to 10-year window, it could change the European gas market in terms of the amount of supply that can be made available from unconventional plays.

…

TER: You’ve talked about Argentina, and a little bit about Poland. Anywhere else?

KS: Sure. It’s even in places such as the Paris Basin Shale oil, where the French government is currently looking at the regulations associated with industry fracing practices and in onshore Romania where there is shale gas potential much like is seen in Poland today. The Paris Basin Shale has huge potential. It’s a North Dakota Bakken look-alike area, and companies such as Sterling Resources Ltd. (SGURF.PK) have a huge position with potential of ~1 billion bbls of oil in place net to SLG. Sterling also has 400,000 net acres of onshore shale gas potential in onshore Romania next to Chevron (CVX), who recently entered the space for the unconventional shale upside. If this Paris Basin shale oil and/or the Romanian shale gas potential proves up, it’s nowhere in Sterling’s stock price today and both plays are considered “game-changers.”

TER: Could you tell us more about the Paris Basin?

KS: The Paris Basin is an onshore shale oil deposit, very similar to the North Dakota Bakken. A lot of vertical wells have been drilled through conventional producing basins. There’s a lot of activity with Hess Corp. (HES), Toreador Resources Corporation (TRGL) and several other major companies who have acquired land positions in the play and preparations for several key wells could go down later this year.

Read the full interview at SeekingAlpha.com.

Tagged with: • • • • • • •
Feb 13

Shale gas could be paving the way for an oil-less society

By Trevor J. Murphy shale gas No Comments »

A recent article for PriceOfOil.org suggests current developments in both the oil and natural gas sectors could be heralding the “final chapters of the oil age.”

On the heels of a world economic crisis, the shift from oil to other energy sources is proving to be an entrenched reality across the globe.

Coupled with announcements by oil giants such as BP and industry analysts such as the International Energy Agency that the global demand for oil is on the verge of peaking, other energy resources – like shale gas – are taking over.

A major reason people are abandoning oil is its price. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has warned that the slow pace of global economic recovery in 2010 would lead to a subdued improvement in oil demand this year.

Though the global economy suffered over the last year, oil prices remained stagnant while people were forced to cut costs wherever possible, in some cases causing them to look elsewhere for energy sources.
The allure of “cleaner” gas is also drawing people to gasses like shale because it does not emit as much pollutants into the air when consumed nor does it use as much energy, water and resources to extract.

The shift is causing major problems for the oil industry.

This week French oil giant Total said more closures to refineries around the world due to “fuel product overcapacity,” and last month Russian gas mogul Gazprom announced plans to re-evaluate a large Arctic gas extraction project because of the boom in shale gas (read Russian Gas Giant Feeling The Effects of Shale Gas).

SOURCES:
PriceOfOil.org: “Is an oil-less recovery on its way?”
PriceOfOil.org: “Peak Demand Will Happen Before Peak Supply”
Reuters: “An oil-less recovery dims the future for oil”

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • •
Jan 29

Russian Gas Giant Feeling the Effects of Shale Gas

By Trevor J. Murphy energy independence 1 Comment »

The exponential potential for shale gas exploration overseas and the shale boom in the United States is forcing one of Europe’s gas giants to re-evaluate what was once considered to be a largely ambitious gas extraction project in the Arctic.

Gazprom, Russia’s biggest gas company and Europe’s biggest gas supplier, said this week they would have to reassess its plan to develop the 3.8 trillion cubic meter Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea.  Together with partners Statoil and Total, Gazprom has planned to send as much as 90 per cent of Shtokman’s extracted natural gas to the North America, but the company admits that alternative gas suppliers and quickly developing markets for shale gas in the US and abroad is putting Shtokman development plans in jeopardy.

Andrew Neff, an energy analyst at HIS Global Insight says shale gas is “playing havoc” with Gazprom’s prices and projects.

“The potential spread of the shale gas production revolution to Europe, which is believed to have significant untapped reserves of its own, would clearly have a profound impact on Gazprom’s production and marketing strategy,” he told The Guardian.

In an interview with Russia Today television in December, a Gazprom spokesman called shale gas “a joke” and dismissed concerns that a growth in the production of shale gas would pose a threat to the company’s foreign sales.

But the reassessment of the Shtokman fields demonstrates that Gazprom is now taking the threat of shale gas and energy independence very seriously.

Over the past two years, gas exports and revenues fell dramatically for Gazprom. While high monopolistic prices and European dependency on the Moscow-based company certainly played a role in causing country’s to look elsewhere for gas, the role of shale and the desire for energy independence by some countries in Europe such as Poland has undoubtedly been affecting Gazprom.

Oddgeir Danielson, an oil and gas expert in the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, said the repeated postponement of the Shtokman project illustrates current uncertainties in that market and highlights Gazprom’s conflict with shale.

Directors at Shtokman Development will meet again on February 5, 2010 to agree on a new marketing plan for the offshore field. There is a possibility the directors may also delay a final investment decision on the venture.

SOURCES:
Alaska Dispatch: “Gazprom eating crow on shale gas?”
Barents Observer: “Gazprom might abandon Shtokman”
The Guardian: “BP chief hails American breakthrough in gas supplies from shale rocks”
The Moscow Times: “Shtokman Meeting to Consider Gas Buyers”
Business Insider: “Gazprom: Shale is a joke, and it can’t possibly compete with gas”

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • •
Jan 26

Realm Energy Makes Aggressive Play for European Shale Gas Deposits

By Michaela Davies shale gas in Europe 1 Comment »
Oil and gas rights could span more than 1.5 million acres
Realm Energy International Corporation (“Realm Energy”) (TSX-V:RLM) (www.realmenergy.ca), is pleased to announce its recent applications for oil and gas rights in multiple countries throughout Continental Europe. The applications were filed following a rigorous evaluation of high potential shale deposits throughout the continent and, if successful, will permit Realm Energy to bring North American technological advancements in shale gas and oil extraction to Europe.
Realm Energy is now concentrating on eight discrete sedimentary basins in seven European countries and submitted applications for oil and gas rights that collectively extend over 1.5 million acres of land. Realm Energy received confirmation of receipt from government bodies that its applications are under active consideration.
“After months of rigorous evaluation, confirmation that our applications are under active consideration is an important step toward our goal of acquiring oil and gas rights over significant lands containing high-potential shale formations,” said Craig Steinke, Executive Chairman. “We stand behind our extensive evaluation process and strongly believe that Realm Energy is positioned to maximize the possibility of favorable outcomes from these applications.”
Realm Energy is collaborating with Halliburton Consulting ( HAL) in aggressively evaluating high potential shale deposits throughout Europe and select emerging countries. In addition to its filed applications, Realm Energy is evaluating other undeveloped shale plays and intends to make further applications to various governments for oil and gas rights in early 2010.
Tagged with: • • • •
Next Entries
preload preload preload