Bishop Hill Barton Moss comes up trumps
Nov 5, 2014 Energy: gas IGas has just told investors about the results of its exploratory drilling at Barton Moss outside Manchester and it looks like excellent news:
The key results from the Barton Moss well cores...are as follows:
- Total Organic Carbon ("TOC") analysis indicates values of up to 5.72% with an average of ca. 1.9%
- The thermal maturity measurements of the shale places the shale in the gas generating window as per the basin model predictions
- The measured permeabilities are comparatively high for the observed porosities when compared with other typical US shale plays
- The mineralogy of the Bowland Shales in this area are very comparable with other key US plays, notably the Marcellus and Fayetville, when comparing quartz/clay/carbonate content
- The cores were observed to have numerous natural fractures with some evidence of alteration due to fluid migration. This is believed to be associated with the depositional setting of the well location.
In summary, the results from the Barton Moss well represent an important datapoint in understanding the structural and depositional setting of the basin. The results will help refine the subsequent appraisal programme as well as better delineate the resource potential. The extensive core and log analysis undertaken to date will be invaluable in defining future development options including geomechanical data for the design of hydraulic fracture treatments.
These results combined with the earlier Ince Marshes-1 well which encountered a thick (ca 1000 feet) section of shale with good TOC's and the forthcoming Ellesmere Port exploration well will help to better define the overall potential of the IGas acreage in the North West.
The Company has developed an estimate of GIIP for the enlarged group's shale gas position as follows:
GIIP* Low Most likely High Net Tcf 34 147 263 Gross Tcf 50 192 352
Reader Comments (21)
As the quoted figures are for the North West, it would be worth relating the net gas figures to how many years the North West could be self-sufficent in energy if all gas and electric were from these local reserves.
It's all very well proving up the potential but will the inmates of the Westminster asylum facillitate the works needed to bring this to production?
Or will we hamstring the operation with regulatory red tape to the extent that further development ceases to be economic?
This regulatory news item issued today by Rose Petroleum shows how Germany has effectively closed the door on further future development there.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/rose-petroleum-plc--rose-/rns/strategic-decision-to-focus-on-utah/201411050700231599W/
I think the nutters in london have seen what happens when shale comes to fruitition recently.
Gas prices tumble, oil prices tumble. Economies flourish.
Sadly your current bunch of numpties will use this bonanza to fund their other stupidities.
UK uses about 3Tcf per year, so that is decades of energy independence. and saving the country ~£10 billion per year
Rob
The figures are gas in place rather than what might be extracted.
The good news is also reported by Reuters
Gas prices tumble, oil prices tumble. Economies flourish.
Nov 5, 2014 at 9:31 AM | Stephen Richards
Cripes! Can't have that, can we? The proles might get uppity, and start expecting to get paid. And what'll happen to the feudal system, if the wind subsidies fail?
In a sane world the simple fact that not one penny of tax payers money is needed to extract shake gas for the simple fact that, unlike renewables, it's a REAL form of energy.
Sadly we don't live in a sane world.
Mailman
"Gas prices tumble, oil prices tumble. Economies flourish."
Ah yes, but the all-knowing and wise people in Westminster and DECC have told us that gas prices are going to rise. And they'll do anything required to make sure they aren't proved wrong. Because if we stopped trusting in politicians that would be a disaster (for politicians).
Alex
What do you mean, "if we stopped trusting politicians", many of us stopped years ago!
Derek
This is not good news, if you are one of the Occupy Anything I Don't Like crowd.
Cheap, affordable energy for all is the worst nightmare of the Green/Left
"cheap, reliable" is what I meant.
Fingers 1 Brain 0.
OMG - shale gas, and plenty of it. Just as predicted, then. All that's needed now is to confirm viable extractability and this becomes the green blobs worst nightmare. By comparison renewables could be insanely dear in no time.
Expect furious eco-whack-job kickback very soon.
The news does not even get a mention on the BBC website (now why would that be, when they devoted headlines to the Barton Moss protesters?), which instead mentions yesterday's continued decline in oil prices as the Saudis price theirs more aggressively for US markets, and the news of the collapse of the deal to sell the Murco refinery in Milford Haven as a going concern.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-29908632
Now, why might that be?
That is, green taxes killed the business, leaving us even more dependent on imports of refined products from the few countries that have export surpluses, rather than the many countries that export crude oil. So that's more imports from Russia etc.
Is not part of the Marcellus Shale only a 100ft thick or less in places , while the Bowland Shale is up to 6000ft thick. Also shale deposits within much of the UK are 100s of feet thick. If the UK shale has high enough TOC and plenty of natural fissures why should'nt it produce considerabal amounts of gas? I cannot understand the geological and technical pessimism: the political pessimism makes sense.
Fracking good news..!
Except for the politicians/greens (same thing) of course....
As I may have mentioned before - I wonder how Alex Salmond's oil tax revenues would stack up now, with Brent Crude at $82/barrel and heading south...
The figure quoted for Net GIIP surely reflects the extractable gas, Bish. Therefore RobL's point that even the low figure is 10 years of UK gas consumption is a valid point.
My reading of the points you extracted are that this resource compares favourably with US shale in geological terms - i.e. that it will be no different or even easier to extract and therefore there are no technical barriers to extraction (they can use existing knowledge). This takes away the other leg from the anti-fracking group's arguments.
Rather better than his wind tax revenues.
If you find "Raff" on another thread, could you pass the message on please.
The difference between gross and net GIIP is that the latter excludes gas in non-producible strata. However, it is not an indication of how much gas can be produced. Only a fraction of the hydrocarbon in the producible reservoir can be recovered ("recoverable reserves") before pressure drop and other factors intervene, leaving the rest of the hydrocarbon behind. The description of similarity of the geology with Marcellus shale suggests that similar recovery rates ought to be possible - and that the economics ought to be good too. No bidder's curse pushing up the costs, either (overpaying for acerage and expertise can seriously damage your wealth - ask e.g. Shell, who have written off billions that way).
The high relative permeability and microfracturing are both good news. Based on Fayettville and Marcellus (Pa portion), you could be looking at recovery factors approaching 15%, providing 22Tcf of TRR, just from that one deposit. The EIA's current estimate for total UK is 26. This will have to be very substantially revised upwards.
Is this expected, as it is said that UK geology (unlike that of the US) is highly fractured?
"the cores were observed to have numerous natural fractures with some evidence of alteration due to fluid migration. This is believed to be associated with the depositional setting of the well location."
If so, and remembering that Cuadrilla's well casing at Preece Hall deformed (and may still be leaking) are their any general concerns about the migration of methane and fracking fluid from unstable well casings in the UK?