Tuesday, January 26, 2010

European Shale Gas

Someone needs to tell President Obama that free enterprise and innovation do far more to stimulate any countries' economy than do government subsidies and "stimulus funding" and hot air.
Peter

Realm Energy Makes Aggressive Play for European Shale Gas Deposits

Oil and gas rights could span more than 1.5 million acres (Source)

VANCOUVER, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - 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.

About Realm Energy

Realm Energy International Corporation is a Canadian domiciled global energy company focused on driving the exploration and development of major shale plays throughout Europe and emerging countries. The Company is in the process of acquiring petroleum and natural gas rights in large contiguous tracts which it has identified as high potential, and is committed to leveraging the most advanced shale technology to bring these resources into production.

Visit Realm Energy's website at www.realmenergy.ca.

    REALM ENERGY INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION

Craig A. Steinke
Executive Chairman

Friday, January 22, 2010

Horizontal Drilling Success In Texas' Eagle Ford Shale

Horizontal Drilling and presumably hydraulic fracturing proves its worth again. Energy independence? It's there if we want it. Economic recovery? Jobs? Ditto. Quick, someone tell President Obama before every Democrat is voted out of office.
Peter

UPDATE 1-Pioneer says Eagle Ford results top expectations

Tue Jan 19, 2010 9:39am EST (Source)


Jan 19 (Reuters) - Oil and gas company Pioneer Natural Resources Inc (PXD.N) said initial production from its second well in the Eagle Ford shale in Texas beat its estimates and it is looking for a joint venture for the shale, with bids expected in the second quarter.

The company said the Robert Crawley Gas Unit z1 well flowed at an initial production rate of about 17 million cubic feet of gas per day.

"With the highest gas rate reported to date in the play, the Crawley z1 exceeded our expectations and confirms that dry gas wells provide strong economics at today's prices," CEO Scott Sheffield said in a statement.

In October, the company said its Sinor z5 well in the Eagle Ford shale saw an initial rate of about 11.3 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day (mmcfed). [ID:nBNG506499]

U.S. gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK.N) had given France's Total (TOTF.PA) the first right to negotiate a joint venture on Chesapeake's smaller position in the Eagle Ford shale play in south Texas.

Other companies have also approached Chesapeake about partnering in Eagle Ford, Chesapeake's CFO Marc Rowland told Reuters Jan. 11. [ID: nLDE60A2DA]

Pioneer shares were up 3 percent at $52.08 in early morning trade Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Arundhati Ramanathan in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Gas Drillers Bring Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars To Pennsylvania

The following story comes from "The Philadelphia Enquirer" (source). Consider the numbers. Gas exploration and production companies paid an average of $4,020 per acre (a total of $128.5 Million) just for the right to drill for gas on Pennsylvania State Lands. Then when production is established these companies agree to an 18% percent royalty on the amount of gas produced.

This is a fabulous financial opportunity for the people of Pennsylvania. Jobs will be created as the drilling of even one of these wells costs millions of dollars and involves hundreds of people. This is the kind of economic "stimulus" package Pennsylvania and America needs. These are real jobs, not hypothetical "green jobs". This activity creates wealth rather than spending taxpayer's money subsidizing uneconomic and environmentally damaging energy schemes like wind turbines, solar panels, geothermal, or ethanol. The infrastructure and technology to safely extract and use natural gas already exists.

In spite of all the positive aspects of natural gas there are still environmental doom-Sayers who oppose this drilling activity. They say they are concerned about real and potential environmental damage. If anyone wants to know the truth about the pros and cons of horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and the economic benefits of this activity, they should look to the area around Fort Worth, Texas where the Barnett Shale is being developed. They should also look to the area around Shreveport, Louisiana where the Haynesville Shale is being developed. Ask the people there if they like the activity. Ask them if their ground water is being polluted. Ask them how they're benefiting economically. I think the answers will be overwhelmingly positive. Do a search on this blog for more information on all of these subjects.

Learn the truth. Pay no attention to the same environmental alarmists who have foisted the myth of man-made global warming upon us. Perhaps it is not just coincidental that one of the "climate scientists" who has done the most to perpetuate the hoax and fraud behind the myth of man-caused global warming is Penn State University's Michael Mann. Here is a good place to learn more about the global warming, or if you wish, the climate change issue. Stay warm and give thanks to the natural gas drillers who provide the energy to heat your homes.
Peter

Gas drillers bid twice what Pa. budgeted

HARRISBURG - Natural-gas drillers yesterday bid $128.5 million to develop 32,000 acres of Pennsylvania state forests, twice the revenue the state had budgeted, prompting fears of a headlong rush to overrun public lands to tap into the rich Marcellus Shale.

Gas drillers offered an average of $4,020 per acre - almost twice the amount that such leases generated less than two years ago - for the right to extract natural gas from six tracts of state forest in north-central Pennsylvania.

The robust bidding was further proof of the intense industry interest in the Marcellus Shale, a vast underground formation stretching from New York to West Virginia, and whose sweetest spots underlie much of Pennsylvania.

But John Quigley, acting secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, regarded the successful auction as a mixed blessing, saying the windfall could further whet the appetite of policymakers to lease public land to derive immediate revenue without fully understanding the long-term environmental implications of gas development.

"As we sit here this afternoon, fully one third of the state forest is now leased for gas exploration," Quigley said in an interview yesterday. "I think that raises some important questions. How much is too much?"

Jan Jarrett, president of the advocacy group Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, also called for a suspension of new leases until the impact of drilling could be measured.

"We believe that's enough," she said. "We believe there ought to be a moratorium on further leases on state land until a study can be done to determine what the impact is on the forests and the other uses of the forest."

Rather than leasing more public land, Quigley encouraged policymakers to enact a statewide severance tax on natural gas as a more sustainable revenue source. Gov. Rendell, who last year delayed imposition of a severance tax after the gas industry told him the tax would stymie new development, has called on the legislature to enact the tax by July 1.

An industry trade representative declined to comment on the calls for a severance tax, but lauded the lease sale.

"This shows the industry's ability to generate wealth for Pennsylvanians," said Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.

The state conservation department conducted the bidding under duress after the legislature ordered it to generate $60 million for the general fund with new gas leases. The department selected six tracts totaling 31,967 acres and set a minimum bid of $2,000 an acre.

The drillers have a month to send their checks to the state treasury for the new leases, and the $68.5 million that exceeded the legislature's target will flow into the state's Oil and Gas Lease Fund, which under state law must be used for conservation purposes.

Jarrett suggested the state use some of the funds to buy the mineral rights that it does not now own under about 85 percent of the state's parks. Without the rights, the commonwealth has little control over drilling activity on those lands.

"The state cannot prohibit drilling where they don't own mineral rights," she said. "That puts the best areas for public recreation at risk."

But the legislature can order that money in the Oil and Gas Lease Fund be spent for other purposes, and the windfall is likely to trigger a scramble in Harrisburg to redeploy that revenue in the state's cash-strapped budget.

With the new agreements, about 692,000 acres of the 2.1 million acres of state forest will be under lease - that includes about 290,000 acres on which the state does not own the mineral rights. About 750 wells are in production on conservation department lands, but only three of them tap into the Marcellus. State officials expect more than a thousand Marcellus wells could be developed in the next decade.

Five companies yesterday were the apparent high bidders for the new leases located in the Elk, Moshannon, Sproul, Susquehannock, and Tioga State Forests in Cameron, Clearfield, Clinton, Potter and Tioga Counties.

Seneca Resources was the winning bidder on two tracts. The other successful bidders are EXCO Resources Inc.; Anadarko Exploration & Production; Chesapeake Appalachia L.L.C.; and Penn Virginia Oil & Gas Co., based in Radnor.

The new state leases, which are much more environmentally restrictive than the private-sector agreements, limit the drillers to building 123 well pads totaling no more than 645 acres on the six leases - about 2 percent of the land. Marcellus gas developers typically install multiple wells on each site, and tap into the mile-deep formation with a horizontal drilling technique that allows them to reach laterally for thousands of feet.

The new leases also call for the drillers to pay royalties of 18 percent for gas sold from the wells, much higher than the 12.5 percent state minimum. State officials say the revenue generated from royalties from successful wells can far exceed the up-front lease fee.

The growth of Marcellus activity, and its economic potential from public lands, has been staggering.

Until 2007, the state's Oil and Gas Lease Fund had generated $153 million over five decades.

In 2008, in a single auction of new leases, the conservation department generated $166 million from 74,000 acres, surpassing the total generated in the previous 53 years. Those leases went for an average of $2,243 an acre.

Just eight years ago, the state offered 218,000 acres of gas leases in northern Pennsylvania. The gas industry protested the rate of $30 an acre was too high and declined to bid for most of the tracts. Only a quarter of the acreage was leased.