An Early Mover in Unconventional Poland

One of the earliest movers in development of shale plays in Poland, San Leon Energy likely knows a thing or two about identifying new, productive plays in the country.

Lars Hubert, Exploration Manager at San Leon pledged to capitalize on the knowledge garnered in Poland’s Baltic Basin (in the northeast of the country) and apply it to the emerging Carboniferous Basin of the Fore Sudetic Monocline (in the southwest).

He told delegates at Shale Gas Eastern Europe 2011 in Warsaw, Poland that his company believes it may be a world-class shale play.

First, he gave a characterization of the Baltic Basin as experienced by San Leon.

He said that Paleozoic shales there were widely known as being hydrocarbon bearing and that while there was a relatively simple tectonic setting, there was a complex burial history.

“There are no producing fields onshore in the Baltic basin, but there is offshore,” he explained. “San Leon was one of the early entrants in Poland and a lot of people raised eyebrows at the Baltic Basin – ‘why would you think there’s gas in the Palaeozoic shale?’”

According to data from the Polish Geological Institute, said Huber, it was obvious that there was potential there in the Palaeozoic shales.

“TOCs range from 1 to 10%, and this changes throughout the basin but we are in the maturation window, so we feel some areas of the basin are lower maturation with the potential for oil,” he said, adding that the silica content was 25-63%, brittle, and porosity 4-8%.

He then contrasted that with what San Leon sees as the emerging Fore Sudetic Monocline shale, which comprised carboniferous shale.

“These Palaeozoic shales are naturally pressured,” added Huber. “We see a complex burial history, making this a more challenging job. Significant amounts of gas are produced from overlying reservoirs.”

He continued: “We are kind of on the flanks of the basin and are getting deeper as we go to the northeast. According to the HIS database there are 153 wells which are tagged carboniferous.”

Mr. Huber showed carboniferous core samples. “You can see these nice black shales but also sandstones. We believe there’s potential for a tight gas play. There’s also a small conventional gas play.”

“We would like to recommend the preservation of these core samples, which are being exposed to the elements. It would be a shame if they were lost,” he said of the Polish Geologic Institute’s holdings.

Showing a plot of the thermal maturity of the basin, he said: “As you move further northeast it gets more mature – the basin gets deeper. The most prospective area we’ve found to be on the flanks. There appears to be a higher TOC.”

“There’s a very complicated maturation history, we think on the flanks we’re in the dry gas window.”

Revealing geological and geophysical risk assessment diagrams, he showed the areas San Leon wanted to avoid.

Hubert provided characteristics of these carboniferous shales: TOC content 1-5%; maturation 1.3-2.0% Ro; silica content of 20-60%; and porosity of 1-7%, to name a few.

He said there were oil and gas shows, a conventional gas field in the carboniferous and conventional gas fields above the carboniferous in addition to being normally pressured.

“There are very few well penetrations,” he said. “It’s at a much earlier stage than the Baltic Basin. We need to identify where we want to be depth wise and laterally throughout the basin. We’ll likely drill later this year in one of our concessions.”

In offering up a US-Poland shale comparison, Huber said San Leon believed that it had the parameters that were indicative of the carboniferous being a high quality shale for gas production.

Finally, he offered some conclusions on the Sudetic Monocline, that it contained thick, organic-rich carboniferous shales; some flanks appeared to optimal thermal maturity; and with a concerted effort, it could prove to be a world-class shale resource.

He commented: “The drill bit will help us mature this to the level where the Baltic Basin is. There is much seismic over the area, but it’s hard for us to see any carboniferous structure. We will be shooting seismic data and will also be drilling because we need more core information.”