LNG Energy has an agreement to drill and test an exploratory well in the Middle Jurassic Etropole Shale of Northwestern Bulgaria. Gas sells for about $10/Mcf in Bulgaria.
More in the Oil and Gas Journal.
Foreign Gas Shales
First Horizontal Shale Gas Well in South America
Halliburton recently completed a horizontal well with multistage hydraulic fracturing at a depth of 4400 meters in the Neuquén Basin of Argentina. According to their press release it was the first horizontal gas shale well and the deepest shale gas well in South America. The well was drilled for Apache Corporation.
More at the Halliburton.com website.
Shale Gas Development in the UK
Rejecting calls for a moratorium and supporting energy independence, lawmakers in the UK will allow the development of shale gas deposits. The British Geological Survey estimates that the resource could be as much as 150 billion cubic meters of gas on-shore with a much larger resource offshore. More at FuelFix.com.
Chevron: Bulgaria Gas Shales
An article in Yahoo! News reports that Chevron plans to test the gas shale deposits in northeastern Bulgaria.
The International Movement of Natural Gas
The Congressional Research Service has a new report that addresses the international movement of natural gas. About 70% of the natural gas produced is consumed in the same country. This leaves 30% of all gas production moving via international trade. This trade occurs through pipelines and LNG shipments. The map below shows the global pattern of the international natural gas trade.
Image by the Congressional Research Service
International Gas Shales are Currently Throttled but Ready to Expand
Baker Hughes CEO Chad Deaton says that oil and gas shales are a small part of their current international business because of specialized equipment capacity but that sector is expected to grow significantly over time. More at Platts.com.
China: The Shale Gas Resource Leader
The shale gas boom that started in the United States is spreading globally. A recent report from the Energy Information Administration indicated that China has the world’s largest technically recoverable shale gas resource. Beijing is now working to help their shale gas resource get off the ground quickly with research funding and other assistance. More at MSNBC.com.
Should France Ban Shale Gas Development?
People in France are concerned about the potential environmental and social impact of developing their natural gas shale but at the same time they are concerned about their energy security. More at WorldOil.com.
World Shale Gas Resources
The shale gas boom that started in the United States has spread to countries worldwide. The Energy Information Administration has released a report that summarizes the shale gas resource for 14 regions outside of the United States. Get the report.
Fracking Moratorium in France
Natural gas companies are interested in drilling for natural gas in the shale basins of France, however, the government has extended a moratorium until environmental and economic studies are done. More at BusinessWeek.com.
Foreign Ownership of United States Gas Shales
A letter published in The Ithaca Journal complains about the many foreign companies who have purchased major stakes in United States gas shale companies.
LNG Energy Acquires Baltic Shale Gas Properties in Poland
LNG Energy, a Canadian exploration and development company, announced that it has acquired a 50% interest in 360,000 acres of Baltic Shale in Poland, giving the company a gross acreage position in Poland of approximately 1.1 million acres of shale gas properties in 5 separate concessions. More at the LNG Energy website.
PetroChina Buying Canadian Shale for $5.4 Billion
PetroChina plans to purchase half of EnCana’s Montney Shale assets in Alberta and British Columbia for $5.4 billion (Canadian). In the past 14 months Chinese oil and gas companies have acquired $46 billion in foreign resources. More at RigZone.com.
Exxon to Sell 49% of its Polish Shale Gas Stake
Exxon announced that it plans to sell 49% of its interest in shale gas plays in the Podlasie Basin of Poland. More in an article at Reuters.
Shale Gas in the Karoo Basin, South Africa
Royal Dutch Shell has applied to receive exploration rights in the Karoo Basin of South Africa where they will assess the potential of organic black shales. More in a Reuters Africa article.
Large Gas Field May Make Israel an Exporter
A major gas field discovered in the Mediterranean off the coast of Israel may convert the country from a major importer of natural gas to a significant exporter. More in the Houston Chronicle.
Israel’s Leviathan Natural Gas Field
A massive natural gas find in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel is believed to hold about 450 billion cubic meters of gas. The Leviathan Gas Field is being called “the most important energy news since the country was founded.” More at Voice of America.
Colombia (South America) Shale Gas
An abstract of a paper titled” Shale Gas Potential in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia by Mario Garcia-Gonzalez, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia, has been posted on the AAPG Search and Discovery website.
Ukraine: “The Biggest Shale Gas Supply in the World”
Ukraine’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources claims that “the territory of Ukraine enjoys the biggest shale gas supply in the world.” Quoted in a Worldwide News Ukraine press release.
The Shale Gas Renaissance
An interesting article on the EnergyTribune website is titled “The (Shale) Gas Renaissance”. It reviews how shale gas has gone from an insignificant commodity to the accelerating force of the US energy scene.
Graph modified from the Energy Information Administration.
Gazprom Explores Small Scale LNG Facilities
In Russia there are many industrialized cities located on waterways that are not served by natural gas pipelines. Gazprom considers building small-scale LNG terminals to bring natural gas to these markets. Gazprom is the largest gas production company in Russia and controlled by the Russian government. More at UPI.com.
Shale Gas Discovery in Argentina
YPF, Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales, the state-owned energy company of Argentina has discovered a large shale gas resource that could hold 257 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. More at Reuters.
Recoverable Shale Gas in Europe: 140 Tcf ?
A presentation on Worldwide Gas Shales and Unconventional Gas posted on the Advanced Resources International website shows a preliminary estimate of 140 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas from shale.
Azerbaijan Natural Gas Production is Rising Rapidly
Natural gas production in Azerbaijan is rising rapidly and the country has become a net exporter. At present most of their production is from offshore fields. None is from shale. More at the EIA Country Analysis Brief.
First Hydraulic Fracturing Job in Poland
“Halliburton recently performed the first-ever, shale hydraulic fracturing operation in Poland for PGNiG, the state-owned Polish oil and gas company. PGNiG contracted Halliburton to fracture the Markowola-1 exploratory well near Kozienice, Lublin province, to determine if the site contained commercial gas deposits.” Quoted from the Halliburton press release.
Recovering LNG Markets and New LNG Markets
During the past two years lots of people believed that a huge oversupply was developing in the global LNG market. However a speaker at World LNG Summit said that far eastern markets have recovered rapidly from the recession and new markets in South America are developing. More at the Oil and Gas Journal.
Mozambique LNG? – First on the East Coast of Africa
Anadarko Petroleum has made a large natural gas discovery in the Rovuma Basin in the Mozambique Channel offshore of Mozambique. Three recent significant discoveries could position Mozambique to become the first LNG supplier on the east coast of Africa.
Land Ownership Problems as Papua New Guinea Anticipates Natural Gas Projects
Paupua New Guinea has a wealth of natural gas resources and could bring in billions per year as they are developed. The challenge there could be developing good lease and royalty arrangements with thousands of people who own very tiny plots. More in an article on the SFGate.com website.
Coal Bed Methane to LNG in Australia
Two projects in the Surat Basin of Queensland, Australia, plan to produce coal bed methane from wells, condense it into liquefied natural gas and transport it to markets. More at TCEToday.com.
Schlumberger CEO Says Shale Gas in Europe Will Be Challenging
Andrew Gould, CEO of Schlumberger, believes that developing the shale gas resource in Europe will face many regulatory, social, logistical and financial challenges. More at the New York Times.
