Independent Resources

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Independent Resources PLC, (LSE AIM: IRG) has a unique view of energy management. Looking closely at the Western European energy market and new potentials, the management team at Independent Resources operates on a model that tightly integrates oil and gas exploration and storage.

IRG's model tightly integrates its upstream oil and gas assets in North Africa and Italy with the development of a major storage facility and sees this as a way to maximize its production projects as the basis of a business that returns a high value. Independent Resources has confidence that it's unique brand of partnerships and acquisitions, when tied to its assets result in a strong business model.

Independent Resources' major efforts:

• Securing additional oil and gas leases in the Mediterranean region, as well as in Western Europe
• Bringing a measure of patience into a business that tends to be very volatile and looking toward the longer term, rather than the short-term instant dollar model that many energy firms believe is the norm

At the moment, IRG is involved in many major projects including the Rivara underground gas storage facility. This project, which uses a naturally fractured deep reservoir in Italy's Po Valley, not only has gained government concessions, believes that this project will be a major step in alleviating a major hole in the gas distribution and storage system that has existed for some time.

This storage facility, when it is online will handle an estimated 3.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This, the company notes, would make it one of the largest storage facilities in both Italy and Europe. The key to profitability here would be building a long-term partnership on the project. The company believes the first stage of this will be online in about five years. At the moment, Independent Resources is partnering with ERG Rivara Storage srl, a subsidiary of ERG SpA, a leading Italian energy business.

Another business IRG is investigating is creating "shale gas". "Shale gas", an exploding trend in the United States, can be contained in not only coal beds but also in sedimentary rock, called carbonaceous shales, where the gas collects in micro-structures and fractures, is relatively easy to extract and can be extracted horizontally or vertically.

Independent Resources are involved in another, more limited coal bed methane from the Fiume Bruna parcel in Tuscany. It is quite an extensive project and is expected to extend south into their Casoni lease. It is a large reservoir and is also based on earlier mining efforts in the region which have substantial upgraded the reservoir's size.

In an effort to inject some environmental consciousness into this project, Independent Resources believes it will be able to inject CO2 into a coal bed to recover gas that would remain otherwise trapped. IRG believes there are many opportunities for this to be used to help cut the amount CO2 in the air.

As an oil developer, IRG holds an 18.97% percent interest in the Ksar Hadada block in Southeast Tunisia and it believes that recent discoveries of light oil in various structures will prove profitable from its Acacus well field in this area. IRG believes there is substantial profit from possible shale oil deposits in this area as there is believed to be significant "shale oil" (oil trapped in layers of shale) that may also be brought online.

Reader's Comments

Raysor
August 26, 2010, 1:59 pm
IRG announced today (11.39) that they had spudded ST-4 (Ksar Hadada Permit). Being drilled & financed by PetroAsian with committment up to USD14.5m
Independent assessors quote a chance of success as 40%

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