NGFE Reports: shale all over the map

European states beyond Poland and Germany are looking into shale gas

Shale gas exploration is literally all over the map. In Europe, exploration operations are being undertaken in numerous countries, as shown by the presence at the recent Global Shale Gas Summit in Warsaw, Poland of several delegates from different European states that are surveying their shale gas potential.

One of them was Roland Vially, Senior Geologist & Advisor to the President at Institut Francais du Petrole. Of shale gas drilling in France, he said, “We are just at the beginning of the story as the first permits have been issued.”

He said that there were three main sedimentary basins in France, but that shale gas production is possible in the Southeast basin, in the vicinity of Grenoble. Making an appraisal, according to Vially, involves geological overview, and evaluation of the source rock, among others. He said, “I think it’s quite comparable to the Silurian shale in Poland, but not as good as the Barnett shale.”

Vially contended there may be a big contrast between drilling in Texas versus drilling in France. “I’m not sure if the local population can accept this type of landscape. How to manage a shale development in a tourist area is a big question. A much broader area is also necessary compared to a conventional gas field.”

“Now is just the beginning of exploration in France,” he explained.

“Drillers have to explain to the public what shale gas is and what they want to do. In two or three years they can do perhaps one or two wells. There is strong tourism activity in this area and they don’t want to lose this, but I don’t think the two are incompatible. We have to speak with the population as soon as possible, before the beginning of drilling.”

Vially also addressed the impact of shale drilling in France on water resources, noting the volume of water is a stumbling block.

“Social acceptance is the most difficult challenge for the shale gas industry. Societal acceptance is essential for sustainable development of shale gas in the basin of southeast,” he said.

Experts in the Netherlands are also surveying shale gas potentials.

Frank Van Bergen, Project Leader, Business Unit of Geoenergy at TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands, spoke about a public domain study being conducted in the country to size up shale gas.

Van Bergen offered some context to the exploration of unconventionals in the Netherlands. “We are a small country but very rich in oil and especially in gas. The North Sea is a rather mature basin.”

He said a big question associated with developing shale gas was whether or not power plants in the Netherlands would be fuelled with coal or natural gas.

“Research and exploration is necessary to evaluate our unconventional resources,” he explained. “Shale gas and tight gas are going to be developed in the coming years. We’ve confirmed its presence.”

Van Bergen reported that three licenses had been handed out for hydrocarbon exploration in general. “We expect they’re on the lookout for unconventional resources.”

“There’s a strong need for data,” he said of the Netherlands. “There’s an open policy on oil & gas exploration to stimulate exploration. Small companies are in need of data, so were trying to bring the data into the public domain.”

“We have more than 5,000 boreholes,” said Van Bergen, “along with numerous reports on reservoir parameters, gas composition, etc.”

He identified the site in question as Namurian shale and said well penetrations showed shale deposits up to 2000 meters thick. The Posidonia Formation in the Netherlands he said was 30-60 meters thick and a proven source for shale oil, and likely for gas.

“Is there actually gas in this formation?” asked Van Bergen. “A study showed it has only a limited potential for thermogenic gas, but most mud logs show gas, so it’s probably biogenic generated gas.”

He added, “In terms of depth, thickness, and temperature it is similar to Barnett shale, but the GIIP of Barnett shale is 5-10 times higher.”

Van Bergen said there is speculation as to whether the site can be developed, because of its proximity to major population centers. “This is where Rotterdam, the Hague and Amsterdam are so there’s an issue with population and we would need some technical solutions to be able to develop shale gas.”

“Can it be fractured?” he asked. “We don’t know.”

Specific challenges include the mining law, according to Van Bergen, and that the state owns all subsurface resources. The Netherlands also has public acceptance issues regarding shale gas drilling.

“There’s a strong indication of ample unconventional resources, but we need to do more work,” he explained. “It will probably take the next generation production technology to be able to access shale gas. We need a least a decade for maturing these resources.”

“Conventional resources are fairly large,” added Van Bergen. “Our ministry is aware of shale gas development and knows of the challenges. It will be a business approach and within the existing context there’s a possibility to develop that.”

When asked if rig availability was also among the challenges, Van Bergen said that the Netherlands is aiming for the same market and enterprises that Poland is, so there would be competition.

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