Paris Oil Drillers Target 100 Billion Barrels Near Brie, Wine By Tara Patel - Oct 8, 2010 1:01 AM GMT+0200
A crude oil storage tank stands at the Vermilion Energy Trust pipeline and storage site in Vaudoy-en-Brie, near Paris. Photographer: Antoine Antoniol/Bloomberg
Patrick Monget, district head of Vermilion Energy Trust, turns a valve on a crude oil pipe at the company's pipeline and storage site in Vaudoy-en-Brie, near Paris.
Pumpjacks operate at the Vermilion Energy Trust pipeline and storage site in Vaudoy-en-Brie, near Paris.
Pierre Henry farms wheat and corn east of Paris in an area famous for its Brie cheese. The next big hit might be crude oil.
Henry’s farm, 78 kilometers (49 miles) from the French capital, sits atop what geologists call the Paris Basin, an area bordering Champagne and Chablis vineyards that struck oil in 1958. Henry leased a field to Exxon Mobil Corp. in 1985, which drilled wells that have pumped for a quarter century.
These days Vermilion Energy Inc., Toreador Resources Corp. and partner Hess Corp. are targeting a bigger prize, oil trapped in Paris Basin shale rock that was previously too hard to tap. Techniques developed to pulverize rock and release petroleum have revolutionized exploration and boosted U.S. natural gas production 20 percent since 2006. Vermilion said it has had “positive” results so far in the area.
“If the Paris Basin was in West Texas it would already be drilled and would have pretty substantial production,” Craig McKenzie, Toreador’s chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview in August.
Geology of the basin, a saucer-shaped rock formation extending over 140,000 square kilometers (34 million acres), is similar to the Bakken Shale in North America. While the Paris Basin may hold 100 billion barrels, it’s unclear how much is recoverable, according to the French Energy Ministry.
Last year, conventional oil output from wells around Paris declined to about 10,000 barrels a day, a quarter of the peak in 1988. Shale oil production around Paris may rise to about 50,000 barrels a day by 2020, according to Bernstein Research.
‘Positive Results’
New York-based Hess in May agreed to invest $120 million to help Toreador, based in Paris, search 800,000 hectares (1.97 million acres). Toreador plans a well this year about 50 kilometers away from Henry’s farm near the Napoleonic battle site of Chateau Thierry. Vermilion has over 176,000 acres and plans further tests in the region.
Toreador shares have risen 52 percent in New York trading since the agreement with Hess was announced on May 10, while Calgary-based Vermilion is up 23 percent in New York. The Morgan Stanley World/Energy index has dropped 3.1 percent.
Vermillion’s well is “clearly encouraging” for Toreador, Thomas Martin, analyst at Stifel Nicolaus who has an “overweight” rating on Toreador, wrote in a June report. The potential of shale oil production would provide “significant upside” for Toreador shares, he said. Martin declined to comment for this story.
----------------------------
http://seekingalpha.com/article/244178-toreador-resources-how-the-paris-basin-shale-oil-play-was-discovered?source=yahoo
---------------------------------------
BeantwoordenVerwijderenEmerging Hotspot
The basin is an “emerging unconventional hotspot,” Oswald Clint, senior analyst at Bernstein Research, said in a Sept. 27 report that forecast the potential quintupling in production in a decade.
Toreador estimates its permits may hold as much as 90 million barrels of recoverable oil.
“The source rock is world class,” David Burghardt, director of European exploration at Vermilion, said by phone from his office in Parentis-en-Born in southwestern France. “The challenge is how to extract it and how extensive it is.”
Shale drilling may prove controversial in France’s agricultural belt because the technique blasts water and chemicals into a well to break the rock underground.
The technique has met opposition in the gas-rich Marcellus Shale running from New York to West Virginia. Since 2008, 1,785 wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania’s portion, while New York regulators have placed a moratorium because of the potential pollution of groundwater.
The shale oil around Paris may be located in a layer between two rock formations that contain conventional oil. That layer is more than two kilometers underground at the Champotran field, where Henry’s patch is located, and more than one kilometer from a freshwater aquifer, according to the minerals agency.
“We don’t have an answer as yet as to whether the fluids used to extract the oil will prove too expensive or harm the environment,” said Christophe Rigollet, deputy head of geology division at the government agency Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres.
Genuine Rush
Oil exploration permits in France rose 50 percent by surface area last year, and permit bids rose to 24 from 18, with 14 in the Paris Basin, according to the Energy Ministry’s annual report in June. The ministry has opened for more permits, including the Sezanne area near Champotran, where Toreador and Vermilion are competing with six other companies, according to the ministry.
“There’s a genuine rush,” said Rigollet at the ministry. “About 30 companies have asked us for geological data on shale oil in this region.”
Back on the ground, the looming boom has mostly gone unnoticed. Patrice Caffin, 56, mayor of Jouy-le-Chatel, a village that gets taxes from Champotran wells, said while he wasn’t aware of the shale drilling he didn’t foresee much local opposition.
“More oil would be a good thing,” said Caffin in an interview. “We aren’t spitting on the money, that’s for sure.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net
-----------------------------
Toreador Resources: How the Paris Basin Shale Oil Play Was Discovered
BeantwoordenVerwijderenDecember 30, 2010 | about: HES / TRGL / VETMF.PK
It all started with a handwritten note on the margins of a long-forgotten report, in French, from a well-site geologist who many years ago was on a rig drilling into the Paris Basin for conventional oil.
“That was our first clue,”says Craig McKenzie, president and CEO of Toreador Resources (TRGL). “The geologists were writing about uncontrollable oil flows from the Liassic shale and eruptions due to over-pressurization.
“Rock was erupting into the well-bore because the over-pressured oil was pushing everything out of its way," he adds. "When you see this being repeated over linear distances of 50 miles or more, you get excited that this is not a one-off, but this is basin wide.”
That was the "Eureka!" moment for McKenzie and his team that the Liassic shale in the Paris Basin had the potential to be something very special.
It’s big. It’s simple. It’s over-pressured, which generally means bigger flow rates. It’s been known since the 1950s.
The Paris Basin is the perfect example of the biggest mega-trend I see happening in oil and gas for the next 20-30 years: The export of shale technology around the globe, which should create dozens of discoveries for the industry, and many 5-10 baggers for investors who are able to ride this wave.
And the good news for investors is that -- so far -- many of these plays are being discovered by junior E&Ps (exploration and producers).
That can also mean a rocky ride for investors; juniors are by definition more risky and volatile. Toreador’s story is no exception.
Press Release Source: Toreador Resources Corporation On Monday February 14, 2011, 2:00 am EST
BeantwoordenVerwijderenPARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:
Toreador Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:TRGL - News) (Paris:TOR.pa - News) today announced that its subsidiary Toreador Energy France and its partner, Hess Oil France SAS, (“Partners”) along with select other energy industry companies in France, met with France’s Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Energy to discuss the government’s decision to instruct the General Council of Industry, Energy and Technology (CGIET) and the General Council on the Environment and Sustainable Development (CGEED) to undertake a study to determine the economic, social and environmental impact of both shale oil and shale gas development in France.
The Ministers provided Toreador and Hess an opportunity to present what the Partners believe are the material positive benefits that tight rock oil development in the Paris Basin would have both regionally and nationally in France. Marc Sengès, CFO of Toreador and President of Toreador Energy France, spoke on behalf of the Partners and made the following points:
===========================
commentaar: ze zijn nogal bang geworden in Frankrijk vanwege de problemen met fraccen in de USA.
Deze problemen zullen ook opduiken in NL, zodra er hier boringen gaan plaatsvinden in leisteen en -kolenlagen.
In werkelijkheid hebben de problemen in de USA niks te maken met fraccen, maar alles met lekken in de verticale boorpijp, dit probleem kan zich dus ook voordoen bij gewone verticale boringen.
Grondbezittermoet delen in gaswinst
BeantwoordenVerwijderen9 februari 2011, 7:44 uur | FD.nl
Door: Gijs den Brinker
Nederlandse grondbezitters moeten delen in de opbrengsten van gaswinning als dat gebeurt met nieuwe, onconventionele technieken. Alleen zo zijn deze nieuwe, grote gasreserves in de Nederlandse ondergrond te ontsluiten.
Dat schrijft de Energieraad in een brief aan minister Maxime Verhagen van Economische Zaken, Landbouw en Innovatie.
Vergeleken met traditionele gaswinning legt de winning van onconventioneel gas een groot beslag op het land. Er zijn veel meer putten nodig voor winning. Medewerking van grondeigenaren is cruciaal. 'De vergoedingen moeten daarom belangrijk uitstijgen boven traditionele onkosten- en schadevergoedingen', zegt Kees Wiechers, oud-topman van energiebedrijf Essent en auteur van het Energieraad-advies.
De geschatte omvang van winbare Nederlandse onconventionele gasvoorraden loopt uiteen van 25 tot meer dan 2500 miljard m3. In het Slochterenveld zat oorspronkelijk 2800 m3. Vooral in Brabant zit veel onconventioneel gas.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
commentaar: dit bericht maakte mij heel erg blij, omdat het nieuwe inzicht van de Energieraad absoluut noodzakelijk is om leisteen- en kolengas in NL te kunnen winnen.
Dit komt natuurlijk omdat het anders praktisch onmogelijk wordt om in ons dichtbevolkte land overal te boren.
France Halts Shale as McDonald’s Scourge Turns on ‘Fracking’
BeantwoordenVerwijderenBy Tara Patel - Apr 1, 2011
Natural gas may be poised for a post-Fukushima boom, but even it faces hurdles. In the U.S. and Europe, concerns have been growing about the environmental impact of drilling for gas trapped in shale formations.
And in France, Jose Bove -- the French environmental activist, farmer, McDonald’s Corp. antagonist, and onetime Presidential candidate -- has brought the nascent search for shale gas and oil to a halt.
As Total SA (FP) and other energy companies readied rigs outside Paris and started to plan for drilling in southern France, local environmental groups began raising concerns about damage to water tables from the hunt for hydrocarbons locked in shale rock, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its April 4 issue.
On Jan. 22, Bove started a petition that now has about 100,000 signatures; within weeks the government ordered a moratorium. On Mar. 11, Prime Minister Francois Fillon extended the ban until June, when parliamentary and ministry reports on the environmental and economic effects are due.
“Opposition is building because people are shocked by the way the state pushed through drilling permits without any debate,” said Bove, a Green party deputy in the European Parliament. “It shows disdain for the population and elected representatives.”
On Mar. 23, French Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko- Morizet briefed Parliament on plans to modify rules and allow public consultation when awarding permits for oil and gas exploration.
Hydraulic Fracturing
Total and Dallas-based Schuepbach Energy were awarded permits a year ago to explore for shale gas, which is produced in the U.S. using hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to shoot water, sand, and chemicals into the ground and extract oil or natural gas. Opponents of fracking fear harmful chemicals could seep into groundwater.
Toreador Resources Corp. (TOR) and Canada’s Vermilion Energy Inc. (VET) also received permits to drill in the Paris Basin outside the capital. The geology of the saucer-shaped rock formation, which extends more than 140,000 square kilometers, is similar to the Bakken Shale formation in North America, where oil production has surged with the increased use of hydraulic fracturing, the companies say.
In a Radio Monte Carlo interview on Mar. 16, French Industry Minister Eric Besson said that while chemicals used in fracturing “have caused considerable damage in the U.S. and Canada… some industry representatives say that there may be clean technology that would permit production of shale gas without causing what we have seen in the U.S.”
Paris Shale-Oil Ban Makes Toreador Casualty of Popular Outcry
BeantwoordenVerwijderenBy Tara Patel - Jun 16, 2011 1:08 PM GMT+0200
Antoniol/Bloomberg
Toreador Resources Corp. (TRGL) Chief Executive Officer Craig McKenzie’s optimism about oil from the shale rock around Paris -- some even under the Eiffel Tower -- boosted the company’s shares to a record in January.
Six months on, France is set to become the first country in the world to outlaw the drilling technique that’s vital to Toreador’s success. The company has tumbled as much as 79 percent from its high to $3.77 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, wiping out $374 million in market value.
Toreador sold its assets in Turkey, Hungary and Romania, moved its headquarters to Paris from Dallas in 2009, accumulated the most acreage of any explorer around the French capital and readied with partner Hess Corp. (HES) to start drilling. With a proposed French law banning oil-exploration technology called fracking, Toreador won’t be able to complete its projects.
“It doesn’t look good for Toreador,” said Joel Musante, an analyst at C.K. Cooper & Company. “There is no alternative to fracking to get oil out of shale. At this point it looks like the only thing they could do is participate in a study and that could go on for years.”
McKenzie declined to comment on what Toreador’s strategy will be for the Paris Basin once the ban becomes law.
Fracking, a technology used widely in the U.S., is being rejected in France because of a “huge popular outcry,” according to a parliamentary study released last week. The report relied on findings in the U.S. of land and water contamination and risks of earthquakes rather than on any evidence in France. Fracking uses water, sand and chemicals to break dense rock to release oil and gas trapped within.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
commentaar: zoals bekend zijn Fransen nogal arrogant en irritant, maar blijkbaar zijn ze ook nog dom...!!!
Gelukkig heb ik nooit deze aandelen gekocht, omdat ze veel te duur waren.
Shale gas in Europe: Golden age will need golden standards first
BeantwoordenVerwijderenBy Sylvia Pfeifer
Published: June 27 2011 16:03 | Last updated: June 27 2011 16:03
On a recent day in June, three oil and gas companies announced their intention to list on the London market. After a dry period for flotations in the sector, the flurry underlined resurgent investor appetite.
The smallest of the three, the Aim listing of 3Legs Resources, was nevertheless significant, highlighting investor support for the exploration for unconventional gas in Europe, a trend that barely registered four years ago when the company was established.
Chaired by Tim Eggar, the former UK Conservative party energy minister, 3Legs Resources raised £62.5m ($101m) from the flotation. The money will be used to develop its shale gas licences in the onshore Baltic Basin in northern Poland where it is drilling with US partner ConocoPhillips.
The development of shale gas has transformed the North American energy landscape and its supporters believe unconventional gas has the ability to revolutionise the European market, which is also home to vast resources.
A report this year by the US Energy Information Administration analysed 48 shale gas basins in 32 countries, and estimated the technically recoverable resource in Europe at 624,000bn cu ft compared with 862,000bn cu ft in the US.
The resources hold the potential to cover European gas demand for at least 60 years, according to a study by the European Centre for Energy and Resource Security.
However, 3Legs Resources’ debut on the market comes at an uncertain time for the industry, as governments and regulators try to balance concerns about the impact on the environment of the technology used to extract the gas with the need for a viable source of energy that has lower carbon dioxide emissions than coal.
deel 2:
BeantwoordenVerwijderenIn June, France’s upper house, the Senate, adopted a bill banning exploration for hydrocarbons using hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”.
The process, which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into the shale rock to release gas trapped thousands of feet underground, has prompted concerns about the contamination of water supplies with the chemicals used. Opponents also warn that not enough is known about the effects of the process.
A study by scientists at Duke University in North Carolina published this year found that in one region of Pennsylvania, water from wells in areas with active shale gas production had, on average, 17 times more gas in it than in areas where there was no drilling.
That study has been challenged, but some industry figures admit that badly executed extraction can cause gas to leak into water supplies. The Duke study also provided some support for the industry, by finding no evidence that the chemicals used in fracking – which are pumped deep underground – were leaking into water wells, which are much shallower.
The adoption of the bill by the French Senate means that it should soon become law and the government has also temporarily halted all shale gas and oil drilling.
In the UK, Cuadrilla Resources, the first company to explore for shale gas, has suspended the use of fracking pending a review by the British Geological Survey after possible links between the activity and two small earthquakes near Blackpool. The government, however, continues to support the process.
Despite the controversy, Mark Miller, chief executive of Cuadrilla, believes shale gas has a future in Europe.
It could take several months before the company can return to fracking at its British site, but it hopes to drill its third well in July. It owns its own fracking equipment, which means it could move it to another project.
Other executives such as Peter Clutterbuck, chief executive of 3Legs Resources, argue the future for shale gas in Europe depends on where you are looking, as it is “country specific”.
Poland, site of the company’s biggest investment and where some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, have bought up acreage to explore for shale gas, has a different attitude, he says.
“The government’s reaction and that from the local communities is very positive,” he says, adding that the country “wants to be rid of its dependence on imports of Russian gas”.
In Germany, where the government recently announced it would phase out all nuclear reactors by 2022 in the wake of the Japanese crisis, the country will need to make a decision about how it will meet the supply gap.
Many analysts believe natural gas, including shale, will be the winner.
Nevertheless, companies face other hurdles in Europe before shale gas becomes a commercial reality.
Unlike in the US, where the owner of the land also owns the subsoil, in most European countries the state owns the rights and receives the royalties, giving landowners less incentive to allow drilling on their land.
Fatih Birol, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency, warned in June that if companies wanted to see a golden age for natural gas they would need to come up with “golden standards of practice” for developing unconventional resources.
It is a point not lost on the companies. “The industry has a lot to do in terms of public relations,” admits Mr Clutterbuck. “It needs to respond.”
verplaatst van Olie-draadje:
BeantwoordenVerwijderenOn Sunday June 26, 2011, 5:39 pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - While natural gas companies like ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - News) and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK - News) are making big bets on wells that are supposed to extract energy from shale formations, the New York Times reported that an investigation of e-mails and documents shows industry insiders have doubts as to whether the companies will be able to deliver on their promises to investors.
In the e-mails, energy executive, industry lawyers, state geologists and market skepticism question whether natural gas companies are exaggerating how productive their wells will be, the Times reported.
The Times said it researched well data and found that many of them are surrounded by less-productive zones that cost more to drill and operate than the resulting gas is worth. The newspaper said its investigation found that in many of the wells, the amount of gas produced is falling faster than the companies had expected.
None of the e-mails explicitly accuse any companies of breaking the law, the Times said.
ConocoPhillips declined to comment. Chesapeake could not be reached for comment.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
commentaar: zou dit verhaal ook voor olie van toepassing zijn...???
27 juni 2011 10:32
Shale wells productive, Chesapeake CEO says
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHOUSTON, June 27 | Mon Jun 27, 2011 11:10am EDT
(Reuters) - Results from the bulk of Chesapeake Energy Corp's (CHK.N) shale wells have steadily improved, the company's chief executive said in response to a New York Times article aimed at casting doubt about shale gas productivity.
"By analyzing actual Chesapeake well performance, we know that the initial productivity associated with a majority of our shale gas wells have been steadily improving over the years in all of our gas shale plays, both in initial production rates and the expected ultimate recoveries of natural gas," Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon said in an email to employees sent on Sunday.
Most of Chesapeake's wells are expected to be productive for 30 to 50 years or even longer, McClendon wrote, and characterized the article as "misleading."
Chesapeake is the second largest U.S. producer of natural gas behind Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N).
On Sunday, the New York Times reported an investigation of e-mails and documents showed industry insiders have doubts as to whether the companies including Chesapeake will be able to deliver on their promises about shale wells to investors.
In a statement on Monday, McClendon said he stands behind all statements made to shareholders. (Reporting by Anna Driver. Editing by Robert MacMillan)
It's Texas Tea Time For Toreador Resources
BeantwoordenVerwijderenDecember 15, 2011 | about: TRGL
Environmental concerns about hydraulic fracturing are impacting shale oil and gas exploration all over the world—Canada, the United States, New Zealand—but none as much as France.
One year ago, the Paris Basin in northern France was one of the top international shale oil plays in the world. And just like in North America and the Bakken, a junior player was the leader—Toreador Resources, (TRGL).
How this world-class play got developed was textbook geological sleuthing -- I wrote a full-length article on it.
Toreador's stock ran from $5 last year to $18 in February this year before the French government took a fast and bold step to ban fracking country-wide—sending the stock to under $3. How does a junior company survive such a mortal blow? It's a question more investors should be asking as environmental concerns surrounding hydraulic fracturing are having a bigger impact on community relations and speed/time of drilling programs.
Only three weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States suggested publicly that all fracking in the Bakken could stop next month—January 2012. That was quickly shot down by a North Dakota senator the next day.
Down in New Zealand, TAG Oil shareholders were subject to local residents appealling their permit to drill wells—which will be fracked. At the last minute, they said they could not afford to prolong their protest. In the eastern Canadian province of New Brunswick, citizen groups and environmentalists opposed to fracking have been blocking roads and staging demonstrations.
The concern around fracking is real, and it's global. For Toreador shareholders, it meant an immediate and sustained hit to their wallets, with the stock losing 80% of its value in months. For management, it meant speeding up their process of trying to diversify out of that one play—even though Hess was spending the next $250 million—and led to a merger with a larger private company with a surprisingly similar play in Texas.
Merger documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in October show that Toreador was already looking at ways to diversify the company. Their stock price was rising, giving them good currency to do a big deal. But nothing fit just right.