Random Update On Shale Gas In Europe -- February 3, 2016

Russia - Saudi Agreement? Not Gonna Happen -- Goldman Sachs

Story at Rigzone. Archived.

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Shale Natural Gas In Europe -- Update

 
When I saw the headline over at Rigzone, I didn't know what to think.  Here's the headline: ""Mainland Europe Shale Gas: What Now?"

The last I had heard was that with regard to shale gas in Europe, it was a bust, geologically and politically. And now with the world awash in natural gas, I thought, what fresh hell is this?

But one almost has to laugh. Here's the story:

The shale gas boom has proved to be a game changer for the United States economy, bringing about an era of cheap natural gas that has helped to make the country's industry more competitive. Some other countries around the world would like to follow suit, with perhaps Argentina having the best hope of replicating the success seen in North America thanks to its Vaca Muerta shale gas province.

Europe has also been seen as a future shale gas region in recent years, but a Wood Mackenzie survey of global shale gas drilling activity highlights only three European countries – Poland, Ukraine and the UK – as having any shale gas wells scheduled for 2016.

The key data points from the survey:

• the UK will lead the way; the country has "well-documented" support for the development of a shale gas industry and six wells are expected to be drilled in the UK in 2016
• mainland Europe looks bleak after several setbacks in 2015
• results in Poland were disappointing, and a widespread anti-fracking movement has also hindered shale gas development; last summer COP "gave up the ghost in Poland; CVX, XOM, Total, and MRO all withdrew during the previous three years
• in the Ukraine, Eni could drill its first shale well in the Lviv Basin, in the west Ukraine, depending on regulatory and security factors
• Denmark: disappointing
• Germany: disappointing; some legislative support but members of the coalition government could not agree on the details 

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Pakistan

From Rigzone:

Pakistan hopes to tap potential shale gas resources in the country and has alloted the exploration project to two oil and gas companies, a local media reported Tuesday. 

"Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Pakistan Petroleum Company Limited (PPL) have been tasked to carry out a pilot project to explore shale gas deposits, estimated at more than 10,000 trillion cubic feet (Tcf)."

The Pakistani government is making efforts to explore for shale gas resources given a supply deficit of around 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) gas in the South Asian country and rising energy needs, while domestic gas production stands at around 4.16 Bcf/d gas.

Wow, I hate dealing with natural gas. I can't get my hands around "trillions" of anything. Here we go again, another mother lode of natural gas estimated at "10,000 trillion cubic feet." To put that in perspective, the Marcellus is huge. Huge. And it's estimated to have 480 trillion cubic feet, so 10,000 trillion cubic feet seems a bit noteworthy. From an earlier post:

Disclaimer: I often make simple arithmetic errors. Numbers rounded. Natural gas reserves according to BP/wiki, 2013 - 2014 (US estimate as of December 2013). Top five countries:

• Russia: 6,000 trillion cubic feet
• Iran: 1,000 trillion cubic feet
• Qatar: 900 trillion cubic feet
• Turkmenistan: 600 trillion cubic feet
• US: 350 trillion cubic feet
• #11: Australia: 152 trillion cubic feet (as of January, 2014). (See this post.)
  

Now, let's go back and re-run the numbers that were posted earlier:

• that recent huge Mediterranean natural gas find: 30 trillion cubic feet
• Barnett, revised USGS figures: 53 trillion cubic feet
• Utica, newly revised figures: 782 trillion cubic feet
• Marcellus, EIA revised estimates: 65 trillion cubic feet, "proved" reserves

• October 18, 2017: USGS survey -- 300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, up from roughly 70 trillion cubic feet in its last survey in 2010.

• Bakken/Three Forks, USGS estimate: 7 trillion cubic feet
• Qatar: 800 trillion cubic feet, wiki, conversion

So, Pakistan might have discovered natural gas reserves almost twice what Russia has? I'm not holding my breath.

Miss Emily's Picture, John Conlee

Europe At A Tipping Point; Poland -- June 23, 2015

Over at "Big Stories," I have a page devoted to "Europe At A Tipping Point." Although there are political and economic updates at the link, the page is supposed to highlight Europe's energy future. Today, RBN Energy begins a great series on Europe's [probable] need for US natural gas.

European Energy became a big story on May 18, 2013, when the EU Council President predicted that  Europe might become the only continent in the world to depend on imported energy.

I can't recall if I posted this link, the demise of the nascent natural gas industry in Poland. This was perhaps the most recent article, May 21, 2013, and the most comprehensive -- from Bloomberg:

Poland’s shale gas boom is threatened even before it gets started after some wells failed and the government sought to increase taxes on profits.

Of 39 wells planned for 2013, just two were drilled by May, Environment Ministry data show. The government plans to require that explorers take a state-run company as a production partner. It has also proposed raising taxes to almost 80 percent of profit, according to Ernst & Young estimates. The measures, announced in October, haven’t become law.

“What’s been done here is what Poles call dividing up the bear hide before you’ve shot the bear,” said Tom Maj, who led the Polish operations of Talisman Energy Inc., the Canadian explorer that pulled out of Poland earlier this month. “This has been hugely damaging to the shale gas project as evidenced by the negligible number of wells of the past few months.”

Prospectors had come from the U.S. and Canada to drill what was billed as Europe’s richest shale-gas deposits. The dream for Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government was to find domestic natural gas through an estimated $4.5 billion in exploration projects undertaken by explorers such as Chevron Corp. and Canada’s Nexen Inc. At stake is a strategic goal to cut dependency on imports from OAO Gazprom, the Russian supplier of about two-thirds of the fuel to Poland.

While many explorers including Chevron remain and say they expect their projects to run for years, the disappointment of some of the earliest entrants has caused at least three to pack their bags.

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Heloise Hints

I assume most readers (over age 55) are familiar with "Hints From Heloise." I was not a great fan, but I read her columns once in awhile.

I can think of two or three things that really made a difference in my life. The biggest one was how to keep track of automobile maintenance. We often had three or four automobiles, and not always in the same city (or same state for that matter). How to keep track of maintenance, insurance, registration?

Really, really simple. I placed a large yellow manilla envelope (8.5 x 11 inches) in between the front seats and kept registration, insurance, and copies of maintenance inside. On the outside of the envelope, on the front side, I kept track of mileage and maintenance with a black Sharpie; on the reverse, I kept track of warranties (new batteries, lifetime alignments, etc).

In addition to maintenance, the manila envelope is perfect when renewals come up. I just carry the entire package into DMV with me, knowing that I have everything (usually I renew by mail, but once in awhile I do it in person for various reasons).

When I get pulled over by the local police (twice in the last 45 years, warnings both times), I have everything the officer wants at my fingertips.

It may be the smartest thing I ever did. When driving down the road, if I start thinking about what might be needed, I simply pull out the envelope and read the maintenance log on the outside. In addition, taking the automobile in for oil changes at difference places across the country, I always know what I need (and what I don't need).

When the envelope gets too thick for any more paperwork, it's time for a new car.

The second thing I'm pretty proud of is our recycle bin for art work. It started with our second granddaughter who is very, very clever. She makes all kinds of art projects out of plastic, cardboard, metal, glass that might otherwise be thrown away. We keep a huge bin of this stuff in the utility room.

Today, I see, our youngest granddaughter is finding hidden treasure in the bin.

[By the way, I generally have a rule: infants and toddlers NOT allowed in the kitchen, ever, not even if held. Too many accidents waiting to happen. But in a one-bedroom, 761-square-foot apartment, we occasionally make exceptions.]

Are The Europeans Finally Coming To Their Senses With Regard To Fracking -- August 5, 2014

Rigzone is reporting:

Towards the end of July, the UK government launched the 14th Landward Licensing Round, in which several companies keen on unconventional drilling for oil and gas in the country are expected to apply for licenses.

The use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, techniques in order to extract shale gas is controversial in the UK. Since the UK government ended its moratorium on shale gas fracking in December 2012, there have been a number of protests from environmental activists as well as local residents around the UK as potential sites have been earmarked by energy firms for unconventional drilling.

Nevertheless, despite opposition to fracking by a vocal green lobby and ordinary members of the public, the UK government is pressing ahead with its plans to facilitate a shale gas industry in the country, recognizing the need to access shale gas both for Western European energy security and to boost tax revenues.

Announcing the 14th UK round for onshore oil and gas licensing, the government revealed that potentially up to half of the UK's territory could be opened up for shale gas and shale oil development, as well as conventional oil and gas drilling.

And Spain's constitutional court threw out the country's anti-fracking law:

While France's President Francois Hollande used Bastille Day last year to rule out any shale gas drilling during the term of his presidency, the country's neighbor Spain took steps this June to hasten the development of a shale gas industry. Spain's Constitutional Court threw out a law against fracking for shale gas and oil that had been put in place by the Spanish region of Cantabria in April 2013, explaining that the matter was up to the country's central government.

Global Fracking On The Horizon; UK Lifts The Ban; Fracking Should Begin In Britain Next Year

Bloomberg is reporting:

The hydraulic fracturing of shale in search of oil and gas has hardly started outside the U.S., but that’s changing.

A record 400 shale wells may be drilled beyond U.S. borders in 2014, with most in China and Russia, according to energy consultants Wood Mackenzie Ltd. While that’s a fraction of the thousands of shale wells drilled in the U.S., the number of rigs used onshore in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region has increased 10 percent over the past year, data compiled by oil services company Baker Hughes Inc. show. Most of those rigs are meant for shale, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its Nov. 18 issue. 

Fracking in the U.K. will start next year, after the government lifted an 18-month moratorium imposed when a drilling company found it had accidentally caused earthquakes. Two utilities -- Centrica Plc of Britain and GDF Suez of France - - have bought stakes in the country’s drilling licenses to help bankroll the drillers and win a cut of any profit. 

Natural gas:

China has the largest shale gas reserves, estimated at 1,115 trillion cubic feet, followed by Argentina at 802 trillion cubic feet. In shale oil, Russia tops the list with about 75 billion barrels, according to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Australia, Poland, and Algeria all have big potential. 

Longest European On-Shore Frack? Schlumberger, XOM, Ukraine

The Oil & Gas Journal is reporting:

Schlumberger has rigged up to conduct a nine-stage hydraulic frac job for JKX Oil & Gas PLC in Ukraine at what the companies believe may be the largest onshore frac in Europe to date.

The job is figured to take 40 days and initial flow from the well is expected in August.
The site is JKX’s R-103 well on the Rudenkovskoye license in Poltava, Ukraine. The well was drilled to 4,641 m (15,226 feet) measured depth into the tight Devonian Rudenkovskoye sandstone reservoir and has a horizontal section of just over 1,000 m (3,280 feet) at 3,650 m (11,975 feet) true vertical depth.

Operators reach the middle Bakken at about 9,000 feet in North Dakota. Short laterals are about 4,500 feet, and long laterals are about 9,000 feet in North Dakota. Operators are now fracking 20 - 40 stages in long laterals in the Bakken.