Shale Compendium: North Africa

Algeria

• Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika “wants to import technology for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to tap the potential of shale” (Bloomberg)

• Algeria passed new hydrocarbon law, in March 2013, allowing shale exploration and incentivizing foreign investment in shale development (Natural Gas Europe)

• Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines, Youcef Yousfi expressed his plans to develop Algeria’s shale gas sector into energy reserves, and stated "We hope to develop partnerships with all interested stakeholders who have the required technological expertise to develop these resources in our country" (Al-Monitor Middle East)

• Algeria's Sonatrach partnered with Eni SpA for the development of unconventional gas with a focus on shale in Algeria. Sonatrach evaluating shale potential and conducting studies in partnership with Eni, Talisman, Shell, and Anadarko. Eni has drilled a first test well. (Rigzone E&P News; Economist Industry Briefing) 

Tunisia

• Tunisia Industry Ministry asserted “Tunisia is mulling over producing shale gas to meet its growing domestic demand and the expected drop in traditional oil stock.”  Tunisian government plans to grant Royal Dutch Shell an unconventional exploration permit. (Tunis News)

• Tunisia awarded a 5 year oil exploration permit to YNG to conduct seismic testing and drill test wells in the southern region of Tunisia (PennEnergy)

• Cygam Energy and Chinook Energy hold permits in the Ghadames shale. Cygam has drilled exploration and appraisal wells. (World Oil 2012)

• Winstar resource evaluation indicates high gas potential in the Silurian Tannezuft hot shale (Oil & Gas Journal)

Morocco

• Companies targeting both conventional and unconventional exploration onshore Morocco include Repsol, Anadarko, EOG, Vermillion, San Leon, Longreach, Circle Oil and Gulfsands (Industry Note Pura Vida Energy)

• ARI estimates Morocco to have 68Tcf or risked shale gas and 11 Tcf of technically recoverable shale gas. (EIA World Shale Gas)

• San Leon Energy got encouraging results from its initial study of Tarfaya Oil shale performed by Enefit Outotec Technology (Energy Pedia 2013)

Libya

• National Oil Corporation Chairman Nuri Berruien: “Gas has never been a priority for us, but it is now.  We may have some of the most important shale gas deposits in the world.” (Rigzone E&P News)

• Talisman and Polish Oil Company expressed interests in unconventional resources (Economist Industry Briefing)

Egypt

• Committee for shale gas exploration formed to gather data and information on unconventional resources in Egypt, composed of government representatives and companies. (Rigzone E&P News)

Nigeria

• Nigeria has an estimated 6.6 Tcf of shale gas, no targeted shale exploration taking place. (Nigeria: Shale Gas Evolution March 2013)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: South Africa

South Africa

• Government lifted a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the Karoo region September 2012. Moratorium had been in place since April 2011. (Huffington Post)

• Royal Dutch Shell, Falcon Oil & Gas, Chevron, and Sunset Energy have exploration licenses. (Bloomberg)

• Technical cooperation permits have been issued to Shell, Sasol, Chesapeake Energy, Statoil, Anglo Coal, and Sunset Energy (Oil & Gas Journal)

• "Shale gas might be the clinching factor in freeing the country of 49 million inhabitants from its dependence on coal to fuel 85% of its energy needs" Accenture report (Oil & Gas Journal)

• BP investing R5-billion in South Africa and Mozambique to improve energy security, BP has not prioritized shale in South Africa. (The Herald Apr. 2013)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: East Africa

Tanzania

• Tanzania planning new laws to replace its existing oil and gas legislation (Wall Street Journal)

• Beach Energy acquired a production sharing agreement with Tanzanian government in the western part of Tanzania (Oil & Gas Journal)

Mozambique

• China National Petroleum acquired a $4.2M stake in a Mozambique shale gas project; Eni SPA holds a 50% interest and manages the project. (International Business Times)

• Anadarko discovered new offshore natural gas area, Anadarko working on a preliminary appraisal program for the new find (Energy Capital Apr. 2013)

• BP investing R5-billion in South Africa and Mozambique to improve energy security, BP has not prioritized shale in South Africa. (The Herald Apr. 2013)

Kenya

• Kenya plans to auction licenses for oil and gas exploration in up to nine new onshore and offshore blocks in Kenya (Upstream)

• CAMAC Energy began onshore gravity and magnetic surveys as part of its exploration phase in Lamu basin in Kenya (Rigzone)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: South America

 Argentina

• Chevron and YPF signed a $1.5B deal to develop the Vaca Muerta shale field, with plans to drill over 100 unconventional wells in the next 12 months (Reuters)

• Exxon and YPF exploring for unconventional oil and gas in Argentina (Bloomberg)

• Bridas Corp. and YPF signed a $1.5B deal for shale development in Vaca Muerta (Cortez Journal)

• YPF and Chevron sign agreement to explore and develop shale oil in Vaca Muerta (2013 PwC Report p.4)

• YPF and Dow Chemical signed a preliminary shale agreement to explore for shale gas in Orejano block (WSJ MarketWatch)

• Argentina’s government implemented a “Gas Plus” program that will include all shale projects and provide a price guarantee for discovered gas (KPMG 2011 Shale Gas A Global Perspective p.10; Legal Status of Shale Gas in Argentina)

• Argentina’s Shale Gas Revolution, Americas Quarterly Apr. 2012

Colombia

• Columbia Ecopetrol SA exploratory well found crude oil, company continues explorations (Oil & Gas Journal Apr. 2013)

• Petrominerales is doing production testing in Llanos basin and plans to drill a second horizontal well (Oil & Gas Journal Mar. 2013)

• Exxon acquires shale exploration rights in two blocks in Columbia. (2013 PwC Report p.4)

Brazil

• Brazil’s energy regulator ANP plans to auction exploration rights for shale gas deposits in five different basins in Brazil, the auction is planned to take place on October 30 and 31, 2013. (Reuters Jan. 2013; Reuters Feb. 2013)

• Brazil’s Cemig investing in unconventional fuels, drilled two exploratory wells in 2012, three more planned (Bloomberg)

Chile

• Companies have approached Chile’s Ministry of Energy for Special Contracts of Petroleum Operations. Chile’s Ministry of Energy has been diverting investments due to lack of information about shale gas in the country. (Natural Gas Americas)

• Chilean government expected to come up with a shale development scheme in 2013 (Power Engineering Int.)

Paraguay

• Unconventional Gas in Paraguay report May 2012

• Paraguay and Uruguay have not announced any specific plans for shale extraction (Power Engineering Int. Jan. 2013)

Bolivia

• Bolivia’s YPFB started preliminary studies on shale gas potential (Energy News Feb. 2013)

Uruguay

• USGS, Assessment of Potential Shale Gas and Shale Oil Resources of the Norte Basin, Uruguay (2011)

• YPF partnered with Ancap for shale development in Uruguay’s portion of Chaco basin (Power Engineering Int. Jan. 2013)

Venezuela

• Nicolas Maduro and Vladimir Putin "affirmed their readiness for further progressive development of bilateral cooperation in the spirit of strategic partnership" (Reuters Apr. 2013)

• Shale and Beyond: The Next Phase of Latin American Energy Integration, World Politics Mar. 2013

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: Canada and Mexico

Canada

• Talisman deferred exploring for shale gas in Quebec shale (Oil & Gas Journal)

• Shale being developed in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and New Brunswick. (2013 SG-ELR Report p.8-12)

• Ontario has a complete ban on hydraulic fracturing and unconventional extraction. (2013 SG-ELR Report p.8-12)

• Quebec imposed a temporary ban on fracturing in March 2011 pending a further study expected in 2013 (CTV News)

• New Brunswick rejected a moratorium, announced regulations for shale development (CBC News Feb. 2013)

Mexico

• Mexico plans a $242M assessment project for non-conventional energy potential (2013 PwC Report p.4)

• Mexico’s PEMEX has drilled six shale gas wells in northern Mexico since 2011. PEMEX plans to drill twenty wells by 2016 and operate 6,500 commercial wells over fifty years (IPS News)

• Water shortages may limit shale development. The “state of Coahuila where the most promising shale is found is one of Mexico's driest areas and water may be too scarce to use thousands of gallons per well in the extraction process” (Reuters)

• Mexico’s current laws do not allow outside or private investment in its energy sector. Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto has proposed energy reforms that would allow private investment. (Platts)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: Australia and New Zealand

Australia

• First commercial shale gas well in Australia launched by Santos Ltd. In October 2012 (Nasdaq)

• Chevron entered into joint venture with Beach Energy in February 2013 acquiring a share in Australia’s shale gas. The deal valued at $349 million. (Forbes; Bloomberg)

• ConocoPhillips invested 109.5M into Canning basin shale to fund a four-phase exploration program. (Oil & Gas Journal)

• Queensland Energy got approval from Queensland state government to develop commercial oil shale operations (Oil & Gas Journal)

• Chevron, Statoil, Total and PetroChina hold interests in Australian shale assets (The Australian)

New Zealand

• Tag Oil received government approval to drill two shale wells in New Zealand (Upstream)

• Taranaki Regional Council published a Hydrogeologic Risk Assessment of Hydraulic Fracturing for Gas Recovery in the Taranaki Region report, updated May 2012.

• New Zealand awarded 10 petroleum exploration permits covering several shale formations in 2012 (Oil and Gas Journal)

• TAG Oil spudded an exploratory well in the black shale and source rock formations in the East Coast basin in New Zealand. (Oil & Gas Journal Apr. 2013)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: Asia-Pacific

Mongolia

• Genie Oil Shale Mongolia, a subsidiary of Genie Energy acquired a 5-year exploration contract for oil shale deposits. Genie Energy is the only holder of oil shale contract in Mongolia (Oil & Gas Journal)

• Genie Energy had been evaluating shale in Mongolia since 2012 when it signed a joint survey agreement to identify areas for development (Oil & Gas Journal)

Japan

• JAPEX recovered crude oil in shale oil testing in Japan October 2012 (PwC Report)

• Japan Petroleum developing a commercial oil sands project and a demonstration project in Alberta using steam assisted gravity drainage. (Oil &Gas Journal)

• Japan’s Inpex and Nexen entered a joint venture to develop unconventional shale in British Columbia (Oil & Gas Journal)

Indonesia

• Government expects to start offering shale gas blocks in 2013. (Jakarta Post)

• Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Edy Hermantoro told reporters “the government would start offering around four working contracts to develop shale gas this year.” According to Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Susilo Siswoutomo “the government would likely use shale gas to fulfill domestic needs with Sumatra as the pilot project before expanding to other parts of the country” (Jakarta Post)

• Salamander finds wet gas from an exploration drilled through a shale prone reservoir (Upstream)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: Russia, China, and India

Russia

• Shale Boom Could Happen in Russia, China but not Europe (Wall Street Journal)

• Bazhenov Shale 80 times bigger than the Bakken shale (Forbes)

• Current Russian legislation taxes crude exports at 90% revenue per barrel. (Reuters)

• Putin has posturing publicly that export taxes will be reduced. Proposed extraction tax for unconventional oil was introduced but has not yet passed. (Bloomberg Jun. 2012; Reuters Apr. 2013)

• Rosneft partners with ExxonMobil for exploration of Bazhenov shale, shale development aimed to offset declines in other fields and maintain its own output. (Reuters)

• Gazprom began drilling an appraisal well in a second tight oil project (Gazprom News)

China

• Royal Dutch Shell received government approval for a production sharing contract with China National Petroleum (US$1B investment). “Shell and CNPC, the state-controlled parent of PetroChina Co., agreed to explore, develop and produce shale gas in the Fushun-Yongchuan block in the Sichuan basin, an area covering about 3,500 square kilometers” (Bloomberg Mar. 2013)

• TerraWest Energy and Petromin Resources have production sharing agreements with China National Petroleum (Oil & Gas Journal)

• Gazprom partnered with China National Petroleum for development of Chinese shale fields (Oil & Gas Journal)

• Total and Sinopec signed a joint agreement to explore shale gas reserves in China (Upstream)

• Government expected to unveil new policies for shale development (Platts Mar. 2013)

• Yet-to-be determined policies and regulations (Center for Strategic and International Studies, Prospects for Shale Gas Development in Asia 2012 report p. 6-8)

India

• Indian Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters “We have received comments on the draft shale gas exploration policy we had floated.  We are now in the process of putting out a note for the consideration of the Cabinet and hopefully in a months time we will be able to announce the shale gas policy.” (Business Standard Feb. 2013)

• Indian Oil Secretary, Vivek Rae said “We can not offer existing blocks for shale gas exploration to other companies. However, in future we may have a single round and companies will be allowed to commercially exploit whatever they think is more profitable" (Reuters Mar. 2013)

• Indian government has not yet adopted regulations for shale development, draft regulations expected in 2013 (Prospects for Shale Gas Development in Asia p. 13)

• India to unveil shale policy within two weeks (Reuters Mar. 2013)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: Romania and Bulgaria

Romania

• Romanian government lifted a shale moratorium in March 2013 that had been in place since May 2012. (Bloomberg)

• Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said when lifting the moratorium “If shale gas is found in Romania, I’m convinced that technology will advance so much in four or five years that it will practically ensure the release of all the regular environmental permits.” (Bloomberg)

• Chevron was awarded a shale exploration permit in Jan. 2013 (Sofia News)

• Chevron exploration campaign began in 2010, completed seismic programs in 2011 (UPI News)

Bulgaria (Moratorium)

• Bulgarian Parliament adopted an indefinite moratorium on hydraulic fracturing on January 18, 2012, and revoked Chevron’s shale gas exploration permit (Sofia News Apr. 4, 2013)

• Bulgaria Energy Economy Ministry estimates industrial shale production within 5-10 years (World Oil 2012)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: Southeastern Europe

Serbia

• Serbian Minister of Environment and Mining, Oliver Dulic said “It is our goal to introduce the most modern international technology so that oil shale can become a resource that will significantly improve the energetic balance of Serbia” (IPS News)

• Serbia plans to seek out an advisor for its shale oil offerings (Bloomberg)

• Serbia NIS doing unconventional pilot projects in Serbia (Natural Gas Europe)

Croatia

• Government of Croatia prepared a new law in 2013 for the regulation of hydrocarbon exploration, the bill is now before the Croatian parliament (Natural Gas Europe)

Albania

• Bankers Petroleum has drilled 32 horizontal wells in 2013, 28 of which are in production (Oil & Gas Journal Apr. 2013)

Greece

• Research project awarded to Greek owned Institute for Geology and Mineral Exploration to explore for shale gas potential in Greece (Natural Gas Europe Nov. 2011)

• Greek government considering selling its state owned natural gas company DEPA and grid operator DESFA (Rigzone 2012)

Turkey

• Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters “We are keen to exploit this method and we must make economic use of shale gas.” (Reuters Feb. 2013)

• Anatolia Energy has a 4-year exploration license, doing testing operations. Shell expected to drill test wells in the Dadas shale (Oil &Gas Journal)

• Valeura Energy awarded working interest in exploration licenses (Oil & Gas Journal)

Armenia

• The U.S. and Armenian government signed a memorandum of understanding in June 2, 2011 for assessment of Armenia’s resources including shale potential (Armenia U.S. Embassy News)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: Central Europe

Austria 

• Ongoing shale gas leasing, Vienna basin being studied (World Oil 2012)

• OMV abandons plans for shale exploration (Reuters Sept. 2012)

• Restrictive shale laws, introduced law requiring a detailed environmental inspection before each project (Reuters Sept. 2012)

Czech Republic

• Environment Ministry granted Cuadrilla Morava and BasGas Energia exploration licenses in 2011, then suspended and under review in 2012 (OSW 2012 Report, Shale Gas in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Romania)

• Czech government proposed temporary ban on shale gas exploration with permitting regulations to come out after the ban (Bloomberg 2012)

Hungary

• Falcon/TMX Oil & Gas Hungary doing exploration work, Falcon Oil signed $20M deal with NIS to drill exploration wells (Market Wire News Jan 2013)

• ExxonMobil joint venture in 2008-2009, ExxonMobil left (Natural Gas Europe)

• Ascent Resources, Delquadra, and Aspect/HHE conducting exploratory operations (Natural Gas Europe)

Slovakia

• OMV and NAFTA conducting seismic and exploration work in Vienna basin (Oil & Gas Journal)

• NAFTA continues to focus on shale exploration activities (KPMG 2012 Central and Eastern European Shale Gas Outlook p. 79)

Slovenia

• Ascent Resources completed a successful fracture well in 2011, in 2012 was negotiating a farm out of its tight gas project in Slovenia (Natural Gas Europe)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: Poland and Ukraine

Poland

• First shale exploration concession granted in 2007 (KPMG 2012 Central and Eastern EuropeanShale Gas Outlook p. 42) 

• As of February 2012, 111 licenses for shale development were issued to thirty different companies, and 308 shale gas bores expected by 2021 (Poland Ministry Report 2012) 

• Exxon Mobil withdrew from shale drilling in Poland in 2012 because of disappointing results and Talisman Energy considering withdrawing as of March 2013 (Warsaw Business Journal, Bloomberg) 

• Polish Environment Minister Marcin Korolec said, “We are changing the regime so that it will be as friendly to investors as possible, and I think as a result they will intensify their activities in Poland. Adopting all of the new regulations should be a question of a few months.” (Reuters 2013) 

• Shale gas progress report published on April 19, 2013 (Ministry of Treasury, Shale gas in Poland – review of progress of works and prospects of shale gas extraction) 

• Polish owned PGNiG plans to drill 13 unconventional exploration wells in 2013 (Natural Gas Europe) 

• Talisman Energy and San Leon Energy proceeding to horizontal drilling in 2013 (Oil and Gas Journal)

Ukraine

• Ukraine signed a 50-year production sharing agreement with Royal Dutch Shell, the deal reported to be worth $10 billion (BBC News Jan. 2013). 

• Vitaliy Klichko, member of Ukrainian Parliament, said "We need to develop shale gas in Ukraine. Hopefully, now it is our long-term plan - to become energy independent from Russia" (Google Translate™ of Gazeta 1.4.2013) 

• Dniper-Donets basin being explored, Shell and ExxonMobil plan explorations, EuroGas and Total acquired lease concessions (World Oil 2012) 

• Marathon Oil exited in 2008 (World Oil 2012) 

• Ukranian Ministry of Fuel and Energy converted a 5 year exploration license to a 20 year production license held by Kulczyk Oil (Oil & Gas Journal Jan. 2012) 

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013

Shale Compendium: Switzerland and Italy

Switzerland

• No federal law that bans fracking (News from Geneva)

• Canton of Fribourg banned fracking in April 2011, canton Vaud has not addressed it. (Natural Gas Europe, Swiss Info)

• “The federal authorities won’t be intervening to stop prospecting. According to Federal Environment Office spokesman Matthieu Buchs, the government is monitoring the situation, but is not planning any restrictions on exploration” (Natural Gas Europe May 2011)

Italy 

• Leonardo Senni, Energy department at Italy industry ministry told reporters “there are no plans to develop shale gas in Italy because of environmental issues and because its potential in the country is limited” (Dow Jones March 7, 2013)

Written by Anna Leonenko, Research Fellow

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

May 2013