Ok, so I think it’s pretty obvious that for Shale gas development to work anywhere, operators need to work effectively with governments.

I’ve been thinking of some of the tips operators have told me about during my research for the Shale Gas World Europe congress, and I thought I’d share a few.

1) Know the system inside out.

Understand the structure of the government, the decision making processes, the key people and most of all know the key drivers and motivators of the people in government. You must also develop an understanding of the role of the regional governments –  the opportunities and challenges of shale gas for regional government can be quite different to federal or national governments.

2) Be patient.

Taking the time to fully appreciate the government’s position on a fiscal, tax or licensing query requires patience. Operators must be prepared to invest a lot of time in building trust with the government.

3) Be prepared to compromise.

Let’s face it, there are always going to be disputes in any oil & gas development. To optimise the outcome, operators must be willing to compromise and demonstrate sensitivity to the government’s position.

These are just three I can think of from the top of my head. I’d welcome any further suggestions.

Cyprus, the 3rd larget island in the Mediterranean Sea is located at the crossroads of big international energy routes. A full member state of the European Union, it has open services-oriented market economy, making it a strategic hub for business activities in the region. The Great Mediterranean region is a market with large potential for oil and gas trading.

At Deepwater World Asia 2011, Solon Kassinis, the Director of Energy Services at Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Republic of Cyprus shared about the promising new frontier with opportunities for high potential for hydrocarbon exploration activities.

Find out more on the potential which exist in offshore Cyprus. Download Solon Kassinis’s presentation slides at http://www.terrapinn.com/template/live/documents.aspx?e=5437&d=7100

Access updates on the fastest developing basins across Asia and the Pacific. Deepwater World Asia 2012 presents an excellent platform for investment and partnerships for governments, national oil companies and their partners. Find out more by visiting our website www.terrapinn.com/deepwaterasia.

I guess it was always going to go one of two ways, with a name like Nabucco. Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Nabucco (short for Nabucodonosor, in English Nebuchadnezzar) follows the plight of the Jewish people as they are assaulted, conquered, and subsequently exiled from their homeland by the Babylonian King.

It may depend on whether your perspective is Jewish or Babylonian, but news last week about Turkey’s Azeri deal may well be the final nail in the coffin. Well, certainly for anything other than a dramatically slimmed-down “Nabucco west”.

It seems to have been generally received wisdom in the industry for some time now, to my mind since last July at least. But news in late April that MOL was pulling out of the consortium and last week’s news have certainly made it more public.

The Transanatolian pipeline offers a solution for the Shah Deniz gas, but not for the Turkmen gas, and the challenge of making the most of the Caspian gas fields remains. It will be debated at a conference in London this June moderated by law firm Baker Botts.

North Sea Oil adapts  Space Technology for exploration

Astrophysicists at Aberdeen University are working with Fugro Subsea Services and Trident Underwater Engineering Systems to develop existing technology which was designed to measure gravity force in outer space so it can be used below sea level by North Sea oil companies to identify small unexploited oil and gas fields on the seabed.   Currently the technology has only been used on land, however trials are planned later this year underwater to seek out potential pockets of of oil and gas with the aim of extending the exploration industry in the North Sea.

Full article in Scotland on Sunday

Shale Gas World Asia’s blog aims to bring you the latest, most pertinent shale gas development, technology and partnerships in Asia and beyond – allowing you to keep a keen eye on what’s happening in the sector and plan ahead for your business.
We have put together some key case studies and white papers on key markets such as Australia, Canada, India, China and Indonesia, for you to have a better understanding on what is happening in the Shale Gas industry and demand outlook.

Download the presentations/case studies here:
1. Acquiring shale assets down under: Opportunity and stakeholders’ way into the market?

•     Taking advantage of Australia’s close proximity and abundant resource supply
•     Capitalize on Australia’s first-hand experience of the rapidly evolving technology used to exploit for shale gas
•     Advance and diversify your unconventional gas portfolio

Speaker: Gaz Bisht, Head of Shale Resources at Australia Worldwide Exploration (AWE Ltd)

2. Prospecting for shale reserve potential in Canada: Challenges & opportunities

• Rolling out significant exploration efforts to assess and quantify prospective shale resource
• Forward-looking statements in the future of shale in Canada: Understanding technical risk reduction, environmental stewardship, stakeholder alignment and, in case of success, significant future capital investment
• Ensure the profitability of your investment by acquiring shale assets where there is significant investments from largest integrated majors as well as mini majors

Speaker: Dr Baleshwar Kumar, Former Scientist & Head, Geochemical Prospecting of Hydrocarbons, National Geophysical Research Institute

3. India’s Initiatives towards exploration and development of shale gas

• Accelerating India’s progress in identifying shale resource potential in Gujarat, Assam and Jharkhand
• Removing barriers to commercialisation by driving down cost of shale gas assessment
• Predicting productivity levels of shale gas basins through geological rocks comparisons

Speaker: Mark Rivenbark, Director, Eastern Hemisphere, Packers Plus Energy Services

4. Indonesia’s Shale Probe: Gauging Indonesia’s shale gas resource potential for commercial extraction

• Assessing shale rock formation for permeability through data exchange and partnership collaborations with international operators
• Overcoming access barriers to shale resources embedded beneath conventional oil reserves
• Probing for the critical mass of shale resource potential underground for commercial drilling and extraction

Speaker: Eddy A. Subroto, Dean, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology, Bandung Institute of Technology

5. Shale gas potential in China

• Understanding China’s geological shale formation to determine the impact on development process; from locating reserves, to drilling and extraction
• Drilling for gas from Palaeozoic shale versus Mesozoic shale formations: Addressing technological and technical challenges to overcome before optimal production capacity can be met
• Predicting productivity levels & expected gas outputs of shale gas basins through geological rock comparison in China to that of North America & Europe

Speaker: Dr Li Yuxi, Researcher, Development Strategy Division, Strategic Research Center for Oil & Gas Resources at Ministry of Land and Resources

If you have any papers or presentations you would like to contribute, email valerie.lim@terrapinn.com

About Shale Gas World Asia 2012:

Shale Gas World Asia 2012 brings together Asian national oil companies, energy regulators, IOCs and local oil service companies to meet with international producers, suppliers, seismic, drilling and oil service companies to evaluate the resource potential of shale gas plays in China, India and Indonesia for commerciality and in examining cost-effective technologies & techniques for successful extraction and production in Asia.
This event has been conceptualized with the strong demand and support of Asian regulators and National Oil Companies from India, Indonesia and China.

Download our conference brochure to find out more about this event

p.s. We have one speaking slot left for this event! To find out more, visit our website by clicking here or contact Natalie Tarin at natalie.tarin@terrapinn.com or +65.6322.2332

Kenya is close to sealing a deepwater exploration contract with Total. The country’s petroleum commissioner, Martin Heya, states that a production sharing contract for block L22 offshore was close to being signed. He also stated that the Energy ministry has offered Petrobras, Statoil and Eni offshore blocks but they had yet to sign agreements.

Oil and gas exploration in East Africa has surged in recent years, but commercial viability is yet to be determined.

If you want to discuss investment and partnership for owners, operators, governments and investors, join us at this year’s Deepwater World Asia 2012! This is the global stage created to discuss and seek strategies and investment opportunities for the latest projects to develop deepwater ventures in the region.

Click here to visit the website

The preparation for Deepwater World Asia 2012 on 15-18 October 2012 is in full swing now. This year, it is going to be much bigger and better with:

· Co-location with World Junior and Independent Oil & Gas Conference

· More than 500 senior level upstream decision makers expected in total attendance

· One combined exhibition hall that gives you access to senior decision makers across the entire upstream value chain

Download your copy of the Deepwater World Asia 2012 Prospectus to find out more about the event or e-mail natalie.tarin@terrapinn.com to get a copy of the draft programme.

What are you waiting for? Come join us as a speaker!

Contact me at +65 6322 2332 or e-mail natalie.tarin@terrapinn.com to discuss speaking opportunities.

Trap Oil had a successful IPO in 2011 making the transition from private to public ownership. Trap Oil CEO Mark Groves-Gidney discussed their experience during a presentation at the 2011 World Independent Oil Companies Congress.

What did Trap Oil have that enabled them to succeed?

• A management team that had years of experience working together
• An established self funding business model
• A de-risked investment opportunity focussed in a stable political and economic environment
• Full equity support and endorsement from major investment banks
• Institutional investors prepared to invest

What lessons did they learn?

• You need a strong management team capable of running with the ball
• You need a unique business model with a twist
• You need a fast but measured pace of attack
• You need good communication with the city

A copy of Mark’s slides can be downloaded here ›

When the oil bubble burst in the 1980s, the town of Hobbs in Lea County, New Mexico was abandoned by it’s jobless residents.  Popular bumper stickers asked the last person to leave ‘to switch the lights out’.

Now the town will be the location for a new scientific facility, ‘The Centre of Innovation, Technology and Tests’, the first of it’s kind for the development and testing of numerous state-of-the-art products for the town of the future with an investment budget of $1 billion. Researchers will make use of the town’s infrastructure to test automated and ‘people-less’ appliances and products such as self driving cars.

However, the revamped abandoned town will not have any permanent residents.

Full article from The Independent

I remember a couple of months back there was a lot of interesting discussion was had around whether this may be the last of the big LNG projects in Australia for a while because of rising costs and difficulty in getting projects to go ahead for low cost. The Ichthy’s project is a contender to that train of thought. I look forward to seeing how it operates going forward. Luckily for us, Bill Townsend from INPEX will be addressing the LNG Outlook conference set on the 19th – 21st of November.

Limited sponsorship opportunities are available if you are keen to make business in the industry. Get in touch with my colleague Daniel Stephenson on daniel.stephenson@terrapinn.com to see what you can do for the event!

According to Emma Cochrane, Marketing VP Asia Pacific and Africa from ExxonMobil, although Australia has the resources to meet global gas needs, there are obstacles for the Australian market, such as tax and government quotas or restraints.

Read the rest of the article here.

She also said that by 2040, the Asia Pacific region will be responsible for a third of the global gas demand. This provides Australia with a great opportunity to meet the demand by accessing shale resources and producing shale. Australia has not commercialised its shale assets yet but production is looking to take off in the next couple of years.

The commercialisation of shale will be discussed at this year’s Shale World Australia. Download the brochure for the event here.