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Range Resources: Georgia on My Mind
January 02nd, 20125:48pm Posted In: Shale Gas, Georgia
European unconventional gas opportunities beyond Poland, even further east?
No, we’re not talking about Ukraine.
In an exclusive interview with Natural Gas Europe at Shale Gas World Europe in Warsaw, Poland, Anthony Eastman, Director at Range Resources Ltd. offered his thoughts on unconventional gas in Europe and what Poland’s success could mean for shale gas E&P further east.
He commented: “Obviously, Poland’s the main country at the moment in terms of shale and it’s certainly bringing international focus to the shale potential in Europe. A lot of the big guys are already here and I suppose some of the opportunities have already been taken, some may be looking elsewhere in Europe, at some countries and regions not thought of to have the potential shale that they could be shifting their focus to.”
Given Range Resources’ concessions in the Republic of Georgia, Mr. Eastman said the country’s shale gas potential is definitely worth looking into.
“We have two licenses with 7,000 square kilometers across the country, which represents about 10% of the land area of Georgia; we’ve shot 410 kilometers of 2D seismic and are looking to embark on another seismic program next year, where we look to extend the lines up into the north, where we believe we have some shale potential.”
He continued: “We’re at the moment chasing the conventional play through this next well and another two wells next year, and looking to attract potentially interested parties to come in and look at the potential shale opportunities in the north of the two licenses. We’re more than happy to open up the doors to them and look at some potential farm-ins.”
Eastman said that based on the RPS report released in December 2010, on the basis of seismic there were 68 multifold structures, and that the best estimate of oil in place at this early stage was at around 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
“With an additional seismic program that we’re kicking off next year, we could potentially look to add to that,” he said. “Having 7,000 square kilometers is a large area, so there’s potential to grow that base.”
He described the kind of partner Range Resources would seek to attract to Georgia.
“The willingness to come in, and with shale experience,” explained Eastman. “To partner with us and also to partner with the locals. We have successfully teamed up with the locals: about 95% of our employees are Georgian. So our partner would need to have the expertise and obviously the financial backing to come in.
According to him, the Georgian government has been tremendously supportive of Range’s activities.
“We have fantastic relationships in country there. They are fully behind us with what we’re doing as evidenced by the licenses that were originally negotiated and awarded around 2002-04.”
The Georgian government was accommodating, considering its conflict with Russia a couple of years ago over a disputed territory.
He continued: “Obviously there was the invasion of South Ossetia. The government agreed to extend the time of the production sharing agreements, plus also the GFC. They recognized the need to extend the terms. They’ve been fantastic, very accommodating and very supportive of the programs that we’re currently undertaking and would be very supportive of us to attract farm-in partners.”
He said Georgia was an easy place to do business, naming multinationals like BMW, Volkswagen and HSBC.
“It’s certainly an attractive place to do business and has improved over a number of years,” said Eastman. “We find it easy to do business. You’ve got BP with the construc
Range Resources: Georgia on My Mind
January 02nd, 20125:48pm Posted In: Shale Gas, Georgia
European unconventional gas opportunities beyond Poland, even further east?
No, we’re not talking about Ukraine.
In an exclusive interview with Natural Gas Europe at Shale Gas World Europe in Warsaw, Poland, Anthony Eastman, Director at Range Resources Ltd. offered his thoughts on unconventional gas in Europe and what Poland’s success could mean for shale gas E&P further east.
He commented: “Obviously, Poland’s the main country at the moment in terms of shale and it’s certainly bringing international focus to the shale potential in Europe. A lot of the big guys are already here and I suppose some of the opportunities have already been taken, some may be looking elsewhere in Europe, at some countries and regions not thought of to have the potential shale that they could be shifting their focus to.”
Given Range Resources’ concessions in the Republic of Georgia, Mr. Eastman said the country’s shale gas potential is definitely worth looking into.
“We have two licenses with 7,000 square kilometers across the country, which represents about 10% of the land area of Georgia; we’ve shot 410 kilometers of 2D seismic and are looking to embark on another seismic program next year, where we look to extend the lines up into the north, where we believe we have some shale potential.”
He continued: “We’re at the moment chasing the conventional play through this next well and another two wells next year, and looking to attract potentially interested parties to come in and look at the potential shale opportunities in the north of the two licenses. We’re more than happy to open up the doors to them and look at some potential farm-ins.”
Eastman said that based on the RPS report released in December 2010, on the basis of seismic there were 68 multifold structures, and that the best estimate of oil in place at this early stage was at around 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
“With an additional seismic program that we’re kicking off next year, we could potentially look to add to that,” he said. “Having 7,000 square kilometers is a large area, so there’s potential to grow that base.”
He described the kind of partner Range Resources would seek to attract to Georgia.
“The willingness to come in, and with shale experience,” explained Eastman. “To partner with us and also to partner with the locals. We have successfully teamed up with the locals: about 95% of our employees are Georgian. So our partner would need to have the expertise and obviously the financial backing to come in.
According to him, the Georgian government has been tremendously supportive of Range’s activities.
“We have fantastic relationships in country there. They are fully behind us with what we’re doing as evidenced by the licenses that were originally negotiated and awarded around 2002-04.”
The Georgian government was accommodating, considering its conflict with Russia a couple of years ago over a disputed territory.
He continued: “Obviously there was the invasion of South Ossetia. The government agreed to extend the time of the production sharing agreements, plus also the GFC. They recognized the need to extend the terms. They’ve been fantastic, very accommodating and very supportive of the programs that we’re currently undertaking and would be very supportive of us to attract farm-in partners.”
He said Georgia was an easy place to do business, naming multinationals like BMW, Volkswagen and HSBC.
“It’s certainly an attractive place to do business and has improved over a number of years,” said Eastman. “We find it easy to do business. You’ve got BP with the construc
