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Why California ?
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World's 6th largest economy - energy hungry. |
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Imports ~85% of natural gas and ~58% of oil. |
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Prolific basins with high yielding source rocks. |
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Over 100 years of exploration and production history. |
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Substantial infrastructure with surplus capacity.
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Low sovereign risk. |
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Under-explored with modern technologies. |
Huge Energy Market
California is largely reliant upon imports for its energy needs. While electricity is largely generated within the state, approximately 42% is fuelled by imported gas.
Substantial Remaining Reserves
California has been producing oil and gas since 1876. As of 31 December 2004, an estimated 3.5 billion barrels and 3.6 trillion cubic feet of California's "proven" oil and gas reserves remain to be produced.
Tremendous Under-utilised Infrastructure
The legacy of this production history is the tremendous infrastructure in place, largely with spare capacity, a clearly defined regulatory environment, and good relationships between the community and industry.
Most Giant Oil Fields Discovered by 1935
California plays host to many giant oil and gas fields. Approximately 89% of the oil in giant fields (defined as those fields with original proved reserves exceeding 100 million bbls) was discovered by 1935. Subsequent seismic information and improved drilling and completion technology provides new opportunities for successful exploration at today's oil prices.
Majors Partnering With Focused Juniors
Since the 1986 oil price crash, there has been very little exploration activity onshore California, leading to downsizing. Consequently, the major oil producing companies have lost some of the local knowledge required to generate exploration prospects and exploitation projects. Orchard provide the technical expertise to increase reserves and production through exploration drilling success and the ability to apply the latest technologies in lowering production costs.
2006 Production
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Oil: 256 mmbls (701 mbopd) #3 producer in the US |
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Comparable to Egypt , Argentina , or Oman |
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Declining recently by 4-5% per year (onshore) due to lack of exploration/exploitation focus. |
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Gas: 323 bcf (885 mmcfd) #7 producer in the US |
Cumulative Production through to December 2005
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Oil: 27.6 billion barrels |
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Comparable to UK or Norwegian sectors, North Sea |
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Gas: 38.4 tcf |
Field sizes
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Six fields greater than 1 billion barrels
(Including Belridge) |
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50 fields greater than 100 million barrels
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Crude Oil Proved Reserves by State
New Wells Drilled in California
California has been relatively under explored for many years. This partly a function of production being concentrated in the hands of a few large operators whose exploration strategies have typically been developed with a global focus. This has allowed a number of smaller independents to take advantage of the excellent exploration and exploitation opportunities in California.
California Top 20 Oil Producers
California Top 20 Gas Producers
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