Dart Energy builds up UK CBM portfolio

Dart started its acquisition of UK CBM assets in Sep-2010 by acquiring Composite Energy. It paid $54 million to obtain interests in interests in 15 CBM blocks in the UK and 2 CBM blocks in Poland. Continue reading here..

Will ExxonMobil’s Polish Failure have a ripple effect on European Shale Operators?

Poland has the largest shale exploration potential in Europe by virtue of its attractive geology and by the Polish Government offering lucrative fiscal terms to prospectors. International majors, including ExxonMobil, Marathon Oil Corp, Chevron Corp and Talisman Energy Inc, are probing Poland’s shale deposits to ascertain if drilling techniques that revolutionized US gas production can unleash reserves big enough to supply Polish demand for more than three centuries. Continue reading here..

Aurelian Oil & Gas Considers Strategic Alternatives

Aurelian Oil & Gas Plc, a $132 million market cap company, has engaged Greenhill & Co to assist in a strategic review in order to maximize shareholder value. This review will assess a wide range of options for the company including the sale of assets, or the merger or sale of the company. Continue reading here..

Chevron plans on investing $26 billion in 2011, with 87 percent of that amount expected to fund upstream activities

Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company plans to take a measured approach to shale gas development despite a flurry of deals in the past year and the industry's huge ambitions for the emerging resource.

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"You're not going to see Chevron -- I can't speak for others -- just shift the whole business into shale, and let other things go," Bobby Ryan, Chevron's vice president for global exploration, said at the Reuters Global Energy and Climate Summit in Houston on Wednesday. Ryan reiterated that Chevron's focus areas remained the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and Western Australia, which were all part of a "balanced portfolio" approach to exploration.

Like Exxon and others, Chevron is exploring shale acreage in Eastern Europe, and will drill its first well in Poland this year. In the U.S. Gulf, Chevron recently got clearance for a few wells already under development, and its program includes 10 development and exploration plans and 15 drilling permit applications in various stages of approval or preparation.

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Chevron is set to drill 16 development wells and two exploratory wells at Jalalabad, Moulvibazar and Bibiyana gas fields in Bangladesh for the next one year. According to Petrobangla, Chevron submitted a US$ 350 million capital budget to carry out the plan. "To conduct the drilling operations we need one year as we have to construct concrete drilling pit, mobilize drilling rig and associated equipment, management and treatment of waste and decommissioning of rig and materials", Chevron official said.

Chevron has added 14 million acres to its portfolio, including the acquisition of Atlas Energy in the northeast United States, and deepwater opportunities in Liberia and China. Chevron’s queue of major capital projects, including Gorgon and Wheatstone in Australia. Over the next three years, 25 projects with a Chevron share of more than $250 million each are scheduled to start production, nine of which have a net Chevron share that exceeds $1 billion. Chevron has four major capital projects planned to start up in 2011.

Additionally, over the next three years, the company expects to make final investment decisions on 13 more projects, each with a Chevron share in excess of $1 billion. Construction on the Gorgon project is nearly 25 percent complete, with startup expected in 2014, and Chevron remains on schedule to reach a final investment decision this year on the Wheatstone project, with startup planned for 2016.

Chevron CEO, John Watson told, “Disruption fears are pushing up oil prices and chevron has $26 billion in capital expenditures slated for this year. When it comes to acquisition, it's all about the right opportunity. We are spending almost 90% of our capital dollars on the upstring, exploring and producing oil and gas, where we'll emphasize our growth and we have growth to add over the next five to seven years.”

Check this Video - Chevron CEO John Watson discusses 2011 Capital Expenditure Plan with CNBC:

Total enters Poland. Total acquires 49% interest in two shale gas concessions from ExxonMobil

Total reached an agreement with ExxonMobil to farm into the Chelm and Werbkowice exploration concessions with a 49% interest, subject to the approval of the Polish authorities. Under the terms of the agreement, ExxonMobil and Total will form a partnership operated by ExxonMobil, which retains a 51% interest. The entry into these concessions reflects Total’s commitment to expanding activities in unconventional gas, notably in Europe, a growth segment of the Group.

Awarded for a period of five years from March 2009 and December 2008 respectively, the Chelm and Werbkowice exploration concessions are located in the Lublin Basin in southeastern Poland and cover 1,162 square kilometres and 995 square kilometres. The work program for each concession comprises acquisition of seismic data, drilling of an exploratory well and a production test if drilling results are encouraging. To date ExxonMobil has already performed seismic acquisition works, as well as the drilling of an exploratory well on the Chelm concession currently being evaluated.

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A quick view on ExxonMobil’s shale gas licences in Poland 

Source: Derrick Petroleum - Euopean Unconventional Gas Database

Nexen joins Marathon to explore Poland shale gas resources.. Exxon seeks partners for its shale gas licenses in Poland.

Marathon Oil Corporation has signed an agreement with Nexen under which Nexen will acquire a 40% working interest in 10 of Marathon's concessions in Poland's Paleozoic shale play. This partnership provides not only financial risk mitigation but combines the extensive unconventional drilling and completion experience of Marathon and Nexen to fully evaluate the potential of these concessions.

Source: Marathon Oil Website

Marathon currently holds an interest in 11 concessions in Poland, encompassing 2.3 million acres. The shales are Lower Paleozoic and located at depths of between 8,000 and 13,000 feet. Marathon plans to acquire 2D seismic during the first half of 2011, potentially followed by the drilling of one to two wells in the fourth quarter of 2011 and seven to eight wells during 2012. Marathon will remain operator of the 11 concessions.

Poland shale gas- A Game Changer??

Poland's Lower Paleozoic shale play may be the largest and most significant opportunity for unconventional gas in central Europe and is evolving rapidly in the wake of successful shale plays in North America. Natural gas demand in the large and growing European market is approximately 50 to 55 billion cubic feet per day, with imports from outside the European Union accounting for approximately 50% of total gas requirements.

Source: Marathon - Howard Weil 2011 Energy Conference

In the last three years, Poland had issued more than 70 licenses for shale gas exploration which could make Europe less dependent on supplies from Africa and Russia. However, extraction of resources in Europe is more complex than in the US because of population density. Poland has 5.3 trillion cubic meters of shale natural gas, equal to more than 300 years of the country’s annual gas consumption, the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy said in a report. The companies are now drilling in Poland, but it will take at least a year to determine if shale gas production will be commercially feasible.

Lots more available on Poland table??

Poland’s shale resources are being targeted by Majors like ExxonMobil, Chevron, ENI, ConocoPhillips, Marathon, and Talisman as well as small independents like San Leon Energy, Realm Energy and BNK Petroleum. The following tables show the list of Poland shale gas deals.

Source: Derrick Petroleum E&P Transactions Database

As the companies' interest towards shale gas exploitation in Poland is heating up, few companies are calling for partners to give them a helping hand. Below is the list of Poland assets available for sale!!

Source: Derrick Petroleum Deals In Play Database

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