BNK Petroleum: Partnerships for Success
In NGFE Reports: Partnerships for Polish Shale Gas, Al Holcomb, Vice President of Strategic Planning at Lewis Energy Group, stated that an effective partnership (and some patience), can sometimes lead to a big payoff.
Holcomb relayed how his company’s success at the Eagle Ford play in south Texas was the result of it’s partnership with Petrohawk Energy Corporation.
Partnerships are often a key ingredient for the successful development of shale gas resources, both in terms of acquiring technical expertise, but also in securing the financial resources required in costly exploration and drilling.
California-based BNK Petroleum was an early entrant into European shale gas land acquisitions and holds six concessions in Poland that total 1.6 million gross acres, as well as holdings in Germany.
Other significant participants in shale gas exploration in Poland, Lane Energy Poland (3Legs Resources) and San Leon Energy plc, have both secured partnerships with the significant multinationals ConocoPhillips and Talisman Energy, respectively.
As BNK moves towards drilling on its Slawno concession, what horsepower has it brought to its camp?
BNK has farmed-out its 80% interest in Slawno, together with the Starogard and Slupsk concessions in Northern Poland, to Rohöl-Aufsuchungs Aktiengesellschaft ("RAG") and Sorgenia E&P S.p.A. ("Sorgenia"). The three concessions, which total 600,000 net acres, are targeting Ordovician and Silurian shales.
Rohöl-Aufsuchungs Aktiengesellschaft (RAG) is Austria’s longest-standing exploration and production company, operating 86 oil and 117 gas production wells. Additionally, RAG is active in E&P for oil and gas in Germany and Hungary and is one of Europe’s largest operators of underground gas storage.
RAG is majority owned by EVN AG, the Austrian based utility, energy and environmental services enterprise, by E.ON Ruhrgas (29.975%), and as to 10% each by Steirische Gas-Warme GmbH, part of Austria’s fourth biggest energy company, and Salzburg AG.
Sorgenia, a joint venture between the Compagnie Industriali Riunite and the Austrian electricity company Verbund AG, is one of the main operators in the Italian electricity and natural gas market.
Milan listed CIR is a diversified Italian industrial group controlled by COFIDE - Compagnia Finanziaria De Benedetti, the financial holding company of the De Benedetti family. Vienna listed Verbund, is Austria's largest electricity provider.
BNK is already an established operator with interests in Tishomingo gas field in Oklahoma and reported proved and probable reserves of 37.9 million boe.
In addition to the work at Slawno, core analysis and geological work has also begun on BNK’s Darrow, Bytom and Trzebielino concessions that were awarded this past March by the Polish Government. The work commitment on these three concessions require the drilling of one well on each concession block within the first 18 months from the date of grant on each concession.
Expect significant activity from BNK and its partners on its existing and applied for concessions throughout 2011.