Canada

Baytex Energy Corp.

"We focus on oil-weighted growth with our Canadian assets and our Seal property in the Peace River oil sands probably represents our best effort" Brian Ector, vice president of investor relations, Baytex Energy Corp., told attendees at Enercom Inc.'s annual Denver event, The Oil & Gas Conference.

"At our Seal heavy oil resources in northwest Alberta, we have accumulated 263 sections of 100% working interest lands, grown production to a current rate of more than 10,000 barrels per day and at the end of 2010, our proved-plus-probable reserves totaled 84 million barrels of oil equivalent." In 2011, the company plans to drill about 10 stratigraphic test wells, 20 cold horizontal production wells and nine multilateral cyclic steam stimulation wells. Based on a Cliffdale pilot on the Seal property, Baytex estimates a 30% recovery factor with an oil flowrate of 1,900 barrels per year (peak) and an estimated ultimate recovery of 4.7 million barrels.

Ector explained that Baytex properties range from heavy oil in Lloydminster along the Alberta and Saskatchewan border to light oil in Canada’s Deep Basin to Cardium and Viking property in western Alberta and Bakken/Three Forks interests. All plays included, the company believes that they can increase growth by 13%.

Progress Energy Resources Corp.

With property in western Canada's Deep Basin, the B.C. Foothills, and Montney, Progress Energy Resources Corp. looks to double production by 2015. In August 2011, Progress completed a joint venture agreement with Malaysia-based Petronas to develop a North Montney project and to export LNG. According to speaker Greg Kist of Progress, Petronas acquired 50% of in their Montney properties including Altares, Lily, Kahta, and 20% of Progress' North Montney (gross) lands. The joint venture comprises about 149,910 gross working interest acres.

Petronas and Progress will establish an LNG export joint venture to study and evaluate a new LNG export facility on the west coast of British Columbia. "Petronas has facilities in Malaysia, Egypt, Australia and the U.K., controls the world's largest LNG carrier fleet and the joint venture will leverage Petronas' extensive network of existing LNG customers," said Kist.

Enerplus

According to Gordon Kerr, president of Calgary-based Enerplus, "Low decline properties primarily in central and southern Alberta are generating free cash flow, allowing us to grow our undeveloped land base of more than 100,000 net acres in Montney, Stacked Mannville and Duvernay shale." In addition, Enerplus has 110,000 net acres (60% operated) in the Marcellus shale in the northeastern U.S. and it has a horizontal Marcellus test scheduled in Preston County, W.V.

Enerplus has also acquired 74,000 net acres of undeveloped Fort Berthold and Three Forks acreage. "Although we're excited about these portfolio properties, we're concerned about being able to deliver crude," said Kerr.

The Calgary-based company properties are 70% weighted to liquids and it is seeking 10-15% production growth during the next two years including a 20% increase in oil production through 2012.

Crescent Point Energy Corp.

Crescent Point operates light and medium oil and natural gas assets in southern Saskatchewan and central and southern Alberta. Crescent Point has a 3,800-net well drilling inventory in a 1,000-net section area in the Canadian Bakken and plans to use water flooding techniques to improve production. The Calgary-based producer also has a 1,700-well inventory in 600 net sections in the Lower Shaunavon play and is building a position in the Swan Hills/Beaverhill Lake light oil play in central Alberta. The Calgary-based company has also acquired property and interests in the Lower Shaunavon, Cantuar, Dodsland/Plato, Manor, Tatagwa and Battrum plays in Saskatchewan.

DeeThree Exploration

DeeThree's principal asset is its Lethbridge property in southern Alberta. DeeThree has leased more than 220,000 net acres including 195,000 undeveloped acres from the Freehold lessor and owns the seismic data that covers a large portion of the lands. The Calgary-based company recently completed a Lethbridge-Bakken well that flowed 250 barrels of oil and 25,000 cu. ft. per day of gas after 15-stage fracture stimulation.

Brazil

Following the recent discovery news, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to learn that the deepwater Campos and Santos basin discoveries by Petrobras represent 30% of the worldwide discoveries in the last five years. Further, the company expects to double its proved reserves until 2020. According to speaker Maria Izabel Ramos of Petrobras, "We have to double our fleet of contracted rigs and continue building rigs with the capacity to operate in the pre-salt region that will produce more than 2 million barrels per day in 2020. We expect to drill 67 exploratory wells between now and 2015 in the Campos Basin alone."

An upcoming project (Varredura) seeks additional recoverable volumes from post-salt Marimba, Marin, Suland and Pampo projects to produce more than 20,000 barrels per day. From 2007 to 2012 Petrobras will double its fleet of contracted drilling rigs, focusing on new rigs with the operational capacity for the pre-salt layer.

Petrobras plans to have three 150,000 barrel-of-oil-per day floating production, storage and offloading vessels ready by 2015. On the downstream side, Petrobras will spend about $71 billion to build onshore refineries, oil export infrastructure and modernize and improve current equipment.

Papua New Guinea

An InterOil Corp. discovery in 2006 at #1-Elk has turned Papua New Guinea into a full-speed ahead, gas and liquids producing and processing region. In 2008, IHS Inc. estimated that the #1-Antelope could hold more that 10 trillion cubic feet of gas, making it the largest onshore discovery well in the Asia Pacific region. One flowtest recorded a maximum calculated rate of 545 million cubic feet of gas per day with later tests showing that the well flowed at a rate of 383 million cubic feet and 5,000 barrels of condensate per day.

A 2010 year-end best estimate by GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd. showed 8.6 trillion cubic feet of gas and 128.9 million barrels of condensate gross contingent resources at InterOil's Elk and Antelope Fields. InterOil's vice president, Wayne Andrews, said the company plans to drill a new well, #2-Triceratops in PPL 237, in 2011. "Our seismic modeling indicates that the prospect is one large structure," said Andrews.

InterOil will build a condensate stripping facility, pipelines to connect to condensate tanks, liquefaction plants and LNG storage facilities and export terminal facilities. "We've entered a 50-50 joint venture with Mitsui Corp. for the condensate stripping project and Mitsui will fund InterOil's share."

Poland

FX Energy president David Pierce called Poland "an underexplored area during the Soviet era that has largely been bypassed by Western explorers." FX Energy will begin a drilling program during 2011-2012 targeting 160 billion cubic meters of gas on company property. FX holds 25 licenses covering four million net acres. "The Permian Basin extends across Europe. Permian (Rotliegend) gas fields in Poland are direct analogs to those found in the UK and Dutch sectors of the southern North Sea and onshore Holland and Germany," according to Pierce.

FX already has one proven producer, #1-Lisewo, in the Fences concession that hit a 66 meter pay zone: during single-well production test, the well produced 4.5-5 million cubic feet per day. FX plans to complete area seismic and to drill up to six wells in 2012. In the Kutno license, they will begin drilling in the third quarter of 2011. On three additional license concessions, NW, Warsaw South and Edge, FX will complete seismic surveys and begin drilling on the prospects in late 2011.

Australia

Falcon Oil & Gas entered a joint venture work program with Hess Corp. in June 2011 to develop Falcon's Beetaloo Basin prospect in Northern Territories, Australia. According to Falcon's president, Robert Macaulay, Hess will acquire $40 million worth of seismic data and will drill and evaluate five wells.

The Beetaloo Basin has more than 3,000 meters of identified the oil- and gas- generating Kyalla shale and gas-generating Velkerri shale with thicknesses up to 800 meters. The sandstones have conventional porosities and permeabilities and numerous conventional structures have been mapped from more than 2,000 kilometers of 2-D seismic.

Despite a record-setting bout of rainy weather this year, work will continue in 2011-2012 with Falcon performing additional tests at #1-Shenandoah, acquiring seismic data on License EP 99 and working with Hess to start a seismic acquisition program.

Contact the author, Larry Prado, at lprado@hartenergy.com.