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Irvine Energy plc is an AIM listed company (Epic: IVE) focussed on the development of onshore conventional and unconventional oil and gas projects in the USA. The Company currently has exploration and production projects in Kansas and Oklahoma, which it is operating and developing in conjunction with its joint venture partner Metro Energy Group ("Metro").
It is the Company's objective to become a significant player in both the conventional and unconventional USA oil and gas markets, by building a solid portfolio of assets within the highly prospective Kansas/Oklahoma region. Irvine has an aggressive growth strategy in place with a work programme to advance its production projects and upgrade its P3 resources to P1 status. The Board believes that by assembling a combination of conventional and unconventional plays, it provides the Company with a balanced low risk, high capital efficient development programme.
Irvine Energy floated on London’s AIM in December 2005 as a £3 million cash shell. It has focused on the US because it likes the lack of political risk, the certainty of title and the availability of low cost/low risk known discoveries which can be acquired and exploited and realise good oil and gas prices in particular.
The Company has accumulated large strategic lease acreages in southern Kansas and has recently completed further acquisitions in Oklahoma. Additional development acreage in north-western Kansas has also been acquired bringing the Company’s total portfolio up to 167,000 gross acres.
In southern Kansas an Area of Mutual Interest (AMI) was designated covering 7 million acres. This includes many small leases including so-called “Mom and Pop” leases. It was agreed that any acreage taken within the AMI would have to be on a partnership basis. Accordingly, Irvine acquired a 75 per cent working interest in oil and gas interests in Kansas covering 112,000 acres. Local firm Metro Energy Group holds the remaining 25 per cent.
As many as 12 conventional production intervals have produced in the area at depths of between 1,500 - 5,000 feet (500 - 1,525 metres) with three (Arbuckle, Mississippian and Pennsylvanian) being prolific.
Importantly the AMI also houses the highly prospective Chattanooga Shale formation, which has successfully been drilled across state lines in Arkansas and Oklahoma. With a land position of over 112,000 acres, Irvine has first mover advantage in an area with significant development potential. Shale gas, due to the development of new extraction techniques, is the US’s fastest growing onshore energy sector. There is the opportunity here to exploit both conventional and non-conventional plays. There has been production before from conventional plays, but there has been no 3D seismic. This is now in train to firm up 3P reserves to at least 2P reserves.
A recent 3D seismic survey at the Company’s AMI project in Kansas identified multiple drill targets adjacent to the traditionally productive Blood and Cooley fields. Historically the Blood and Cooley fields have produced 250,000BBL of oil from the Mississippian, and an additional 225,000BBL of oil from the Kansas City/Lansing and Arbuckle formations. The survey is the first of four to be completed totalling approximately 50 square miles, which is being shot to identify structures in south central Kansas. The structures identified in the first survey are relatively shallow, meaning drilling costs should be low. The seismic programme is focused on identifying drilling targets and increasing production, whilst building the P1 and P2 reserve base. Initial drilling targets are being finalised by Irvine with its partner, Metro Energy, with drilling planned to commence in December/January.
Irvine has completed the acquisition of further projects in Kansas and Oklahoma in conjunction with Metro. In Oklahoma, the Company has acquired a 50 per cent working interest in 50,000 acres in oil and gas leases, which contains the proven Woodford Shale and Emerging Caney Shale, as well as multiple stacked conventional reservoirs. Irvine also acquired a 50 per cent working interest in the Niobrabra project, a shallow gas play comprising 4,490 acres in north-west Kansas.
The 50,000 acres in the Oklahoma projects spans the Okmulgee, Okfuskee, McIntosh and Hughes counties and covers the proven Woodford and Caney Shales, as well as the conventional reservoirs and 18 producing oil and gas wells. The Oklahoma project will ultimately provide up to 400 unconventional drilling locations and 150+ conventional drilling locations in the Caney/Woodford gas shales.
The Niobrara project is primarily focussed on the exploration of shallow conventional gas plays. The licence area includes 20 completed well bores in the Niobrara formation with 13 tested at 50 thousand cubic feet per day (mcfd) each. Total projected production from 20 wells is 1,000 mcfd.
Over the next 18 months Irvine plans an aggressive drilling and completion programme of up to 105 wells. This should enable Irvine to increase its reserves beyond the current 2p estimate of 49 BCFE by hopefully firming its 100 BCFE of 3p to 2p with 220 BCFE of contingent in various stages of appraisal and development. (This is mostly from southern Kansas.)
Irvine’s current net production will be 750,000 cfde from Oklahoma but this is expected to increase rapidly to 2 million cfde given the drilling programme H2 2008.
Output could exceed these targets. The shale plays are an unknown factor to some extent, given that shale gas is the fastest growing energy sector in the US. The relatively recent focus on shale gas development goes back 20 years, and is highlighted by the technical understanding gained and success achieved in the Barnett Shale in Fort Worth Texas. The Barnett Shale is now the largest producing gas field in the US.
Historically, when drilling through shale formations, operators encountered gas shows, although these rarely materialised into any significant production when a well was tested. On those occasions when the interval did prove to be productive at commercial rates a natural fracture network could be identified. However success in developing these intervals on a broad scale was elusive.
The use of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling has demonstrated the potential for wide scale exploitation at commercial rates. The new technology had the effect on the Barnett shale, for example, with commensurate increases in cumulative recovery.
| Chairman | Doug Manner |
| Non-Executive Director | Michael Frayne |
| Non-Executive Director | Anthony John Samaha |
| Non-Executive Director | Ross Warner |
Company Address94 Jermyn Street
|
Additional Address/Key ContactUSA Offices: |
Capital793,674,826 Ordinary shares of 0.1p each |
Year End31 December |
Nominated BrokersEvolution Securities | Nominated AdvisorsEvolution Securities |
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