A panel of industry experts, led by IHS Inc. researchers, discussed upcoming global hotspots for conventional and unconventional exploration and production: Australia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East.

Following IHS Inc.’s introduction for future potentials across the globe, Anadarko’s International Vice President of Exploration, Frank Patterson, discussed the company’s plans on Africa. The next interest areas include conventional and unconventional exploration in deepwater Niger Delta, Angola, the Ivory Basin, and Mozambique. Anadarko has participated in the giant offshore Ghana Jubilee Field discovery.

In South America, Francisco Pulit of Peru-based Plus Petrol noted that while some South American countries have policy or political stability issues, Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Brazil have all welcomed international participation which have resulted in discoveries such as Santos Basin, Llanos Basin and Rubiales Field. One country of interest is Argentina: according to Mr. Pulit, Argentina has very good potential for unconventional gas development.

While Russia has over 300 billion cubic feet of gas and 60 billion barrels of oil, most European countries would rather reduce their dependence on Russia and develop local gas and oil supplies. Unconventional play potential exists in Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, and south Romania including discoveries in the Pannonia, Dnieper, Poland-Rotliegend and Carpathian basins. Of the eastern European countries, Poland may have the biggest block and biggest plays, according to Ritchie Wayland of JKX and, “big companies need big money to get to the big plays which limits the access by small operators.” EuroGas acquired three additional unconventional gas concessions for coalbed methane and shale gas. Many of the European unconventional plays may be tight gas or deep gas. Other recent continental exploration activity is currently underway in France and Lower Saxony in Germany.

Falcon Oil and Gas Vice President Dr. Thomas Ahlbrandt discussed two areas of great interest with great potential on two separate continents. Falcon is surveying and exploring the Beetaloo Basin in Northern Territories, Australia. Long known for mining including bauxite, manganese, gold, coal, and uranium Falcon is exploring Kyalla and Velkerri shales for gas potential that exists in old Protozoic systems. The Beetaloo Basin is about 7 million acres with structurally defined trap between 2000-3000 meters which could be similar to the Williston Basin in North Dakota.

In South Africa’s Karoo Basin Falcon has received one year’s permission to conduct a technical appraisal including a review of the South African Petroleum Data Base. The principal area of interest is the 7.5 million acres in the basin which is located about 120 miles northeast of Cape Town, South Africa. Gas from fractured shale and sandstone in Permian age rocks is the primary interest. Nine wells have been drilled in the area in the 1960s and 1970’s and all have had gas shows. A 1968 well had an unstimulated flow rate of 1.84 million cubic feet of gas per day from fractures.

According to IHS Inc., coalbed gas has been found in many shallow wells in the massive Paleozoic Karoo Basin. South Africa’s Petroleum Agency geoscientists estimate the basin has several trillion cubic feet of gas from coal-bed methane, conventional gas, deep, tight shale gas, and conventional oil. Unconventional prospects may have biogenic gas (associated with high concentrations of helium - up to 26%) that occurs in the Witwatersrand Group and other ancient basement rocks in the Welkom and Evander gold field areas.

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