South Africa Awaits Shale Gas Assessment Outcome

- South Africa Awaits Shale Gas Assessment Outcome

Thursday, September 08, 2011
OilPrice.com
by Charles Kennedy

As South Africa has very limited natural gas reserves, the country's Department of Energy is awaiting the outcome of an assessment of the nation's shale gas potential.

South Africa's Department of Energy Deputy Director General for Hydrocarbon Tseliso Maqubela said at the 4th annual Natural Gas Conference, "The truth that we have to face and effectively deal with is that South Africa has very limited gas reserves. We are awaiting the outcome of the assessment of the shale gas potential, which is currently estimated to be around 485 trillion cubic feet. There are also projects afoot to explore the potential of importing natural gas both as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) to meet our country's energy demands," BuaNews news agency reported.

The Department of Energy has noted environmentalists' concerns about the controversial hydraulic fracturing technique, also known as "fracking," used to liberate the natural gas from surrounding rock formations. Maqubela said that an interdepartmental task team was investigating the procedure's possible impact on the environment, led by the Department of Mineral Resources.

The Department of Energy is in the process of reviewing the 2001 Gas Act, with the regulation of LNG and CNG being reviewed as well as concepts for improving the nation's natural gas regulatory framework.

(Charles Kennedy is Deputy Editor of OilPrice.com. The original article appears here.)

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Sound Oil Awaits Autumn Drilling Program in Italy

- Sound Oil Awaits Autumn Drilling Program in Italy

Monday, July 25, 2011
Sound Oil plc

Sound Oil announced the following update on current operations.

Italy

Marciano-1 ST Well (Sound Oil 100%)

The Company has received a reservoir engineering report undertaken by AGR which has analyzed pressure data from the test of the upper zone at Marciano (1283-1288m) in respect of reserve estimates and reservoir parameters. Unfortunately the initial gas in place in the tested reservoir interval is estimated to be insufficient for commercial production. Therefore present operations at the site will cease pending a future review of the permit.

Montemarciano Permit (Sound Oil farm-in 75%)

An application to commence the site construction for the Casa Tiberi-1 exploration well was submitted to the Ministry of Economic Development on July 20. Civil works are expected to start before August 24 this year with the intention to spud the well no later than 90 days from the start of site preparation.

Badile Permit (Sound Oil 100%)

The interpretation of the 3D seismic data is underway and preliminary results are expected by the end of July.

Indonesia

Citarum PSC (Sound Oil 20%)

The Operator of the PSC, Pan Orient Energy, reports that well site construction has started at the exploration location at Jatayu and is expected to be completed in 2-3 weeks. Construction will then begin immediately on the second exploration well site at Cataka. These sites are for the next two wells on this permit later in the year. The third well location is currently being reviewed by the Operator and Authorities.

Commenting on this update Gerry Orbell, Sound Oil's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "The news from Marciano is clearly disappointing, especially after such an encouraging initial flow rate. The Marciano project was, however, a small part of the value of our portfolio. We will now focus our efforts on the four well program we expect to be starting in the Autumn and also preparing for pending applications in Italy which we expect to be awarded shortly."

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SOCAR Awaits Favorable Weather to Start Geophysical Studies in Caspian Sea

SOCAR Awaits Favorable Weather to Start Geophysical Studies in Caspian Sea

Friday, April 22, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
by E.Ismayilov, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) waits for the normalization of weather conditions to launch a large-scale project within the two-dimensional geophysical studies for the company Bahar Energy Limited, a source at SOCAR said.

The operations envisage conducting the geophysical research on the area between the Bahar-2 prospective structure and the Gum Deniz field.

The source said that sonar work has already been launched in the contract area. Preparations are underway for direct geophysical studies.

"Preparatory work is underway. Winds on the sea do not allow operation in normal mode, and the study will be initiated as soon as weather becomes normal," the source said.

Previously, SOCAR signed a PSA contract with the company Bahar Energy Limited for the exploration, rehabilitation, development and production on the block, which also includes offshore fields of Bahar and Gum Deniz. The contract was ratified by the Azerbaijani Parliament.

Under the second part of the contract, which involves the exploration of the Bahar-2 structure, there are plans to drill one exploration well in three years. If necessary, another one will be drilled during the fourth year. According to initial estimates, Bahar Energy Limited will invest $1 billion to conduct work under the contract.

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