Shale in Africa and Asia (Shale Oil, Part: III)
Shale in Africa and Asia (Shale Oil, Part: III)
Algeria:
Algeria’s hydrocarbons basins hold two significant shale gas and shale oil formations: the
Silurian Tannezuft Shale and the Devonian Frasnian Shale.
The Energy Information
Administration, Advanced Resources International, Inc (EIA-ARI) report World Shale Gas
and Shale Oil Resource Assessment, June 2013, which analyses the Ghadames (Berkine)
and Illizi Basins in eastern Algeria, the Timimoun, Ahnet and Mouydir Basins in centre of
the country, and the Reggane and Tindouf Basins in the southwest, estimates that there
are 3,419 trillion cubic feet of risked* shale gas in place with 707 trillion cubic feet as the
risked, technically recoverable** shale gas resource.
Six of these basins contain 121 billion
barrels of risked shale oil and condensates in-place, with 5.7 billion barrels as the risked
technically recoverable shale oil resource.
Notes: *An adjustment to the total hydrocarbon in-place taking into account the current
knowledge about the play, the quality of the data, and the current state of technology.
**Calculated by applying a recovery factor to risked gas in-place.
Varies between 15%-35%
with most plays in the 20%-30% range.
the country’s national petroleum company, Sonatrach (Société nationale de transport et de
la commercialisation des hydrocarbures) has undertaken a comprehensive effort to define
the size of its shale gas and shale oil reserves.
Pilot wells are scheduled first for the
Berkine (Ghadames) Basin, followed by test wells in Illizi, Timimoun, Ahmet and Mouydir
basins.
The international energy companies Statoil and Repsol have also undertaken
geological and reservoir characterization studies of Algeria’s shales.
Over the last year the
country modified its hydrocarbons legislation to improve the investment climate in
anticipation of a hydrocarbons licensing round in 2013.
Sonatrach is expected to remain
dominant in the sector, according to the report.
Libya:
The EIA-ARI report considers three of the four major hydrocarbons basins in Libya: the
Ghadames (Berkine) basin in the west of Libya, the Sirte basin in the centre, and the
Murzuq basin in the southwest.
The Kufra Basin in the southeast is not assessed
quantitatively by the report.
The first three of the basins mentioned contain 942 trillion
cubic feet of risked shale gas in-place with 122 trillion cubic feet as the risked, technically
recoverable shale gas resource.
They also contain 613 billion barrels of risked shale oil and
condensates in-place with 26.1 billion barrels as the risked, technically recoverable shale
oil resource.
Furthermore, according to ARI “(…) it is likely that future exploration will identify additional
shale resources in other basins and formations.”
In late 2012, the Chairman of Libya’s national oil company, National Oil Company (NOC),
Nuri Berruien, announced that the company was examining options for the exploration of
unconventional oil and gas resources, one option being to make an internal evaluation and
then bring in international companies with expertise in unconventional exploration and
development.
Egypt:
Egypt has four basins in the Western Desert with shale oil and gas potential: Abu Gharadig,
Alamein, Natrun, and Shoushan-Matruh.
The largest horizon is the Khatatba Shale in the
Middle Jurassic Khatatba Formation.
ARI estimates that this Khatatba Shale contains
around 535 trillion cubic feet of risked shale gas in-place with 100 trillion cubic feet of
risked, technically recoverable shale gas resources.
In terms of shale oil, ARI assesses that
here there are about 114 billion barrels of risked shale oil in-place, with 4.6 billion barrels
of risked, technically recoverable shale oil resources.
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