Cooper Basin to boom in 2014

The Cooper Basin is expected to boom in 2014, with some of the biggest names in oil and gas developing exploration programs in the region. According to Kip Ferguson, executive vice president of exploration at Magnum Hunter Resources, the area will be snapped up within the next 12 months.

Ferguson told Bloomberg that the Cooper Basin has the most attractive prospects outside North America. “We’ve looked at Colombia, we’ve looked at Mexico, we’ve looked at Argentina, we’ve looked at Poland and we’ve looked at China of course,” Ferguson told Bloomberg.

“None of those areas are prepared to allow the unconventional technologies to develop these plays. They aren’t as far advanced as Australia.”

Magnum Hunter has struck a deal with New Standard Energy to become its largest shareholder, giving it access to the company’s Cooper Basin exploration program.

New Standard Energy Managing Director Phil Thick told Bloomberg that the developers of LNG export projects in eastern Australia will need to rely on sources such as shale gas and tight gas trapped in rock in the Cooper Basin as they won’t have enough supplies to feed their production plants.

“The next 12 to 18 months are going to see some interesting scrambling going on in the Cooper,” Thick told Bloomberg.

Lux Research has predicted that Australia will become “the next big play in the booming frac market”, followed closely by China and Argentina.

“Shale gas and tight oil have single-handedly altered North America’s landscape, away from a long and steady fossil fuel decline and toward the path of energy independence. Not surprisingly, the rest of the world is keen to pursue similar success,” said Daniel Choi, Lux Research Associate and lead author of the report ‘Uncovering Further Opportunities in the Booming Frac Market’.

“Australia’s strong infrastructure, low population density and legacy of mining; Argentina’s powerful government incentives; and China’s seemingly bottomless development capital make the three countries clear frontrunners in this race.”