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Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Release
Dr. Eduardo Figari Negri of Repsol Sheds Light on Unconventional Exploration in North Africa
Tunis – Tunisia: 07 October 2013 – In the build-up to the North Africa Unconventionals Summit 2013, Dr. Eduardo G. Figari Negri, Director of Geological Studies/Regional Geology/G&G Services/Unconventionals, at Repsol discusses North Africa’s shale extraction potential; studies undertaken by the company in the region; and steps they believe governments and communities should take for successful shale operations.
To date, North America has been the only country that has seen real success in shale extraction, however Repsol – an integrated global energy company with vast experience in the unconventional sector – believe that North Africa could prove to be the next big opportunity.
According to recent studies, African gas reserves account for about 7.5 per cent of the world’s total. On the other hand, technically recoverable reserves of natural gas in Africa are substantially higher – estimated at 74 tcm, almost 10 per cent of the world’s total.
North Africa is right for unconventional exploration and production due to its unique combination of geology, infrastructure and hydrocarbon industry history. This is especially true for the Saharan platform. However, the current drilling and completion costs are still high in North Africa. Repsol, however, believes that this is something that can be worked on if service companies take special effort in preliminary evaluation steps (pilot projects) in order to show how they can reduce costs, thinking about massive operations in the future.
Repsol carries out upstream and downstream activities throughout the world. In order to ensure a safe and a controlled operation, Repsol has conducted a regional study covering the whole Saharan Platform in order to identify prospective areas for shale gas/oil from a geological point of view. Additionally, depending on the database and business opportunity, the company has also performed detailed studies including surface geology, core drilling, lab studies, basin modeling, water management, drilling, completion and production scenarios, so that they are able to select proper shale reservoirs for future operations.
Speaking about whether local companies can start unconventional exploration without international support, Dr. Negri said: “This is a possibility, but we recommend taking advantage of the explosive synergy of combining local geological knowledge with the technical expertise of international companies in order to accelerate and improve the process.”
When asked to highlight the important steps that need to be taken by the governments and communities to ensure safe and mutually beneficial shale operations, Dr. Negri added that: “One of the most important things required to consolidate a successful unconventional project is to have clear and stable contractual and fiscal terms specially designed for unconventionals.”
He further added, “It is also very important that IOCs have a transparent attitude towards the local governments and communities so that they can demonstrate that shale gas exploration is possible and safe if it is tackled with responsibility.”
Dr. Eduardo G. Figari Negri is confirmed to participate at the North Africa Uncoventionals Seminar that is going to be held from 22 – 23 October in Tunis, Tunisia. He is also confirmed to speak on Day 2 of the seminar about the methodology for a regional shale gas screening in the Saharan platform.
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