Unconventionals

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After Iran deal, US companies face being left out in cold

July 17, 2015 | Nuclear, Politics & Social Unrest

Washington, US | –  Within hours of the announcement of an Iran nuclear deal early on Tuesday, lawyers around Washington were fielding calls from U.S. corporate clients eager to know what the 159-page deal would mean for their business prospects. In the near term, the answer for most of them is: not very much. U.S. companies face losing out to foreign competitors in Iran as they wait for signs that Tuesday’s historic nuclear agreement is sticking and that U.S. lawmakers are willing to loosen long-standing …

Shell pulling back from shale projects in South Africa

March 17, 2015 | Shale oil & gas, South Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa | – Royal Dutch Shell is pulling back from its shale projects in South Africa due to lower energy prices although it is still seeking an exploration license for the onshore Karoo Basin, its country manager said on Monday. A more than halving of crude oil prices since June last year has put high cost projects such as shale gas exploration in jeopardy around the globe, Shell South Africa Chairman Bonang Mohale told Johannesburg station Talk Radio 702. “The reason to go …

BP’s 2035 outlook sees OPEC oil gaining ground as US shale slows

February 18, 2015 | Shale oil & gas

London, UK |  – OPEC will regain ground and exceed its historic record production levels by 2030 as U.S. shale oil growth flattens out in the coming years, energy company BP said on Tuesday. In the near term, demand for oil from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is likely to remain under pressure as U.S. shale oil production remains strong, BP said in its annual benchmark Energy Outlook 2035. Production of tight or shale oil in the United States has been the …

Algeria has world’s 4th largest shale gas reserve

February 01, 2015 | Algeria, Shale oil & gas

Algiers, Algeria | –  Surveys, conducted recently by Algeria’s Sonatrach Group in collaboration with energy companies working in Algeria, show that the country ranks fourth in terms of shale gas reserves after the US, China and Argentina. Algeria has a shale gas reserve of 4.940 trillion cubic feet, 15 percent of which or 740 trillion cubic feet are commercially feasible, the Ministry of Energy and Mining announced on Saturday. The shale gas reserves are located in the five Algerian Sahara basins of Ahnet, North Timimoun, …

Algeria’s Sonatrach plans $70 billion investment to explore shale gas

January 12, 2015 | Algeria, Shale oil & gas

Algiers, Algeria | – Algeria’s state-owned energy giant Sonatrach plans to invest at least $70 billion over the next 20 years to exploit shale gas in the southern desert, its managing director Said Sahnoun said on Sunday. Sonatrach intends to moves ahead with the plan despite protest against shale gas drilling in In Salah in Tamanrasset province. The company hopes to produce some 20 billion cubic meters (700 billion cubic feet) of shale gas per year from 200 drill sites, Sahnoun told state radio, according …

Chevron pulls out of Ukraine’s $10 billion shale gas deal

December 16, 2014 | Eastern Europe & Russia, Shale oil & gas

Kiev, Ukraine | – U.S. multinational energy major Chevron plans to withdraw from a $10 billion shale gas deal with Kiev, a senior Ukrainian presidential official said on Monday. Ukraine signed a shale gas production-sharing agreement with Chevron amid great fanfare in November 2013, just months before mass protests in Kiev ousted former president Viktor Yanukovich, plunging the country into a major crisis with Russia. “There is information that they (Chevron) are planning this decision,” Valeriy Chaliy told journalists, referring to a report by local …

Algeria plans to start shale gas production in 2022

October 14, 2014 | Algeria, Shale oil & gas

Oran, Algeria |  –  Algeria plans to begin production of shale gas in 2022, says Said Sahnoune, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the state-owned oil and gas corporation, Sonatrach. He said in a media statement on the sidelines of the International Conference on the Algerian Gas Industry now underway in this western city that “Algeria may start producing shale gas in 2022, if the drawn-up plan could be executed under the right conditions”. “By 2025, we could also achieve a production level of about …

South African anti-fracking group threatens legal challenge

July 23, 2014 | Fracking, Shale oil & gas, South Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa | – A South African anti-fracking group threatened a legal challenge on Tuesday to government plans to grant shale gas exploration licences in the pristine semi-desert of the Karoo, saying the regulatory process had been marked by “patent ineptitude”. In a February State of the Nation address, President Jacob Zuma described shale gas as a “game changer” for the economy and said Pretoria would allow hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, “within the framework of our good environmental laws”. The government had been expected …