Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Hardrock: I likely misunderstood a discussion awhile back as I understood Falcon had either two or three independent engineering studies on the 1H well's normalization rate. I had the impression they used a packer(?) or such to seal off the first 7 stages and then took measurements on the remaining stages. I was given the impression that all the 2 or 3 engineering studies agreed and that 5.2 - 5.8 mmcf/d was a pretty clear normalized rate which was one of the main reasons they are going back to the same pad for the 3H well even though the 2H was a flop - to prove up for certain that area of the Amungee. I am sure you thoroughly understand these things and therefore appreciate your comments and will take them to heart.
The non-use of productions tubing makes sense - the pressure is held in check though the use of a choke so if it's not needed to assist in unloading water, fluid then why install. Once again point well taken.
Gonoles - Thanks for the link. I enjoyed Empire's presentation by the CEO. I didn't realize Empire had around 1 million acres on the west side of our Beetaloo concession and 29 million acres under lease in Australia - and I thought our concession's 4.6 million acres was big!
I might be misreading and probably not for this board but am I correct that their Carpentaria flow rates per 1000 meters is somewhat lower than the Amungee 1H normalized flow rate - their pre and post soak figures are somewhat confusing and also utilizing open flow on 4 1/2 casing which I assume is not apples to apples comparison. I still compare to the Amungee 1H normalized well since Tamboran screwed up the 2H well and we haven't yet seen the SS1H well - maybe the SS1H will be a solid completion/frack! Also, it looks like these are much deeper wells than the SS1H well which plays into economics though I saw the mention of Empire bringing in these wells much cheaper than the other Beetaloo operators! Certainly not casting stones at Empire - just wanting to better understand what this part of the Beetaloo looks like - economics and performance wise. Always good to know what one's competitor is doing!
Hey Newtofo: You have a valid point on the potential pipeline connection though I don't believe that is the purpose of this well - I will defer to others on the potential connections in going forward.
With that said, I do think it's important to be able to claim 2(c) resources on the acreage between the Amungee and the Beeteloo W-1 locations. If preliminary projections are correct that could mean and additional 3.5 - 4 TCF of 2(c) resources for Falcon alone. When we start establishing commercial production on these wells, soon I hope, those resources will begin converting into reserves. With the 6.4 TCF up north and the potential 17 TCF resources down south through Tamboran's 'New' Core Beetaloo - that can't be a bad talking point for Falcon/Tamboran. Also, I recall Philip once telling me that any new discovery over 10 TCF is considered a World Class Discovery - can we say World Class Discovery X2 and counting - OK, maybe I'm being a little overly optimistic at this point LOL!
Will these new resources be a potential selling point to a third party - If Tamboran is going to meet its aggressive drilling goals we know it's going to have to bring in another operator or two - maybe Empire would like play in the new Beetaloo 'Core' playground - if Empire likes deep wells, they can find plenty of them here! If the H&P rig is to be kept busy which I suspect is a contract requirement, Tamboran's going to be thinking creatively. There has to be a logical reason to spend these scarce drilling funds at these times. Time will tell.
Though no specific date is furnished - Tamboran offered some insight into the 'next well' after the SS1h and Amungee 3H well. I would assume this would be in the second half of 2024? This well will prove up potential
material resource booking reserves between the Amungee 2H/3H wells and the SS1h Well. A map also outlines a pilot program in the area of the SS1h well and the Kyalla #117 well - it looks like Tamboran likes the rock/geology they are seeing down south at these deeper depths.
Pg 18 of the Tamboran Tour Presentation.
Three well upcoming work program to delineate ~17 TCF (gross) 2C contingent gas resources1 across ‘core’ region
Shenandoah North 1V: Planned to be drilled as a vertical well
between Amungee and Shenandoah South to support potential
material resource booking (NSAI Maturation Study1). Subject to standard regulatory and JV approvals.
Hardrock: I don't know if your last comment on the 500 meters frack was tongue in cheek or not - I just assumed that with the SS1H being so far south it is not intended to be produced just proving up acreage at this point - thus their comment on the 1 million acres.
I had heard the 2H well was also supposed to be fracked at 50-meter stages but someone did not follow directions :^)
I want to add to what BtoB and Newtofo allowed:
Why would we possibly want to see the 3H well drilled on the 2H location? A couple of reasons IMO. We know the faulted 1H well had a naturalized flow rate of about 5.2 mmcf/d - this was evaluated by two (three) separate engineering studies. There has been additional seismic acquired in this area to define/avoid any faults. During drilling, the 2H well bore showed all the same positive properties during drilling as the 1H but as has been mentioned, operator error screwed up the frack job and consequently the well. If the 3H well is drilled on that location and is successful, then it gives even greater indications and reasons for the eventual redrill (rework) of the 2H lateral when gas begins to flow. Even though the geologists know the rock, a successful completion of the 3H gives greater credence to the 1H/2H,3H pad site.
Concerning timelines, the 3H well should be pinned soon - possibly this next week. As soon as the SSH1 well is drilled/cased the H&P rig will be broken down and moved to the 3H location - no reason to hold it on location for a frack job. This means the 3H should be drilled/cased approximately 60 days after it is moved to the new location. By the middle of November/first of December the 3H well should be ready to frack which means with a little luck the flow test of the 3H can begin by the first 0f 2024. So......lots of news between now and the end of the year and we all know how much Mr. Riddle likes news releases! GLA
Darnit: One distinct advantage that Sheffield has over Philip is that he is a billionaire - small but important :^)
"BS finally showed up, and will end up owning the Beet, because he was/is the smartest guy in the room. If POQ had hired talent 5 years ago, things today would be very different." I Agree with you - instead of BS 'owning' the Beetaloo it might be another billionaire oil company or individual. Also, you tend to forget that Falcon got in bed with Origin many years ago and it was only more recently that Origin bailed on the Beetaloo. Until that point in time there was no reason to bring in another high powered/experienced oil & gas person - Falcon had its operator and someone that was high on the approval ratings of the Australian government. Hindsight has its advantages.
Longknife: Fair Enough - It is very possible someone might have pulled something out of their quiver that better benefited Falcon. Then again, IMO, if not for Philip it's more likely today that we'd be worse off if, in fact, still in the game. Given the timing on the Origin bail, I was pulling for that magic rabbit to be pulled out of the hat but in reality, with Falcon being a lowly-capitalized, non-operating company, the chances of pulling something off in 90(?) days that would have been acceptable to the Australian NT and Feds was highly unlikely - Falcon's sole participation clause was a win in my opinion.
With a little good luck on the SS1H well, I think Falcon can get this project back on the track - Philip is still shooting for a sale by the end of 2024 - will that happen? - fingers crossed. Will it be my targeted US $1.00/share - I really don't know - I do believe Philip is going to get us a fair value and if not, then we'll see you in 2025. Good Luck!
Longknife: Respectfully, I don't agree with your analysis of Falcon and its CEO. For starters, Philip, coming from an accounting background, might make a lousy Exploration Company CEO. but then, thankfully for us, Falcon is not an exploration company. As a non-operating oil company, I don't know what more we or Falcon's board could have expected out of our CEO these last many years - I'm sure you could nitpick small things here or there, but as to the big picture, Philip has kept us in the game by negotiating several very beneficial contracts that have allowed Falcon to maintain its carried position and kept our acreage position intact with minimal dilution for going on ten - eleven (?) years. Philip has operated Falcon with a skeletal staff and cut the company's burn rate to a bare minimum. Also, coming to know Philip over all these many years, I can assure you he has all Falcon stockholders' interest at heart. There have been times he could have cut himself a quick sweetheart deal, but he has stayed the course and continues to push Falcon towards the finish line. Longknife, I honestly don't know what I would have asked him to do differently since I have been in this stock. Possibly he could have issued a few more Falcon promotional pieces but at the end of the day would that have really any difference?
As to Riddle, you don't know the full story on this guy. If I was going to point the blame at anyone for the 2H fiasco it would be Joe Riddle. Trying to cut corners and save a few bucks is what cost Falcon a full carry on the 2H well. I am not at liberty to discuss details on this public forum, but the 2H failure didn't just happen - it was caused by decisions at the top level of Tamboran's management. I was told early on that the 2H well has been ruined - it had nothing to do with the bull-s##t 'skin' problem that was given to Falcon and their own Tamboran stockholders. I am still curiously waiting to hear the 'mid-July' lab analysis' solution other than re-drilling/fracking the 2H horizontal leg. Because of Riddle's 'skin' issue, Sheffield has now placed a couple of more members on Tamboran's board and Sheffield's group will be closely overseeing future frack jobs.
Guess I didn't realize the SS1H well was going to be drilled to have a 3281-foot horizontal? Also, the SS1H well is only 23 feet deeper than the 2H well?
Sometimes you can't always believe what you read.
NT RESOURCE NEWS 8/10/23
Falcon spuds well in the Beetaloo sub-basin in NT
Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd has spudded a well in the Beetaloo sub-basin drilling a depth of 10,499 feet. The Shenandoah South IH (SSIH) is the first of two horizontal wells scheduled for drilling this year. Another well, the Amungee NW-2H well (A2H), has already achieved a gas breakthrough, the company said.
The new exploration projects are targeting the Amungee Member B-shale. The SSIH, which has a 3,281-foot horizontal section, is 23 feet deeper than A2H. The company said the spudding of the SSIH is “an exciting next step in the appraisal of the Beetaloo Sub-basin”.
Orign789 - As has been stated on this board, I can assure you Riddle now has a new group of advisors - DWE. Riddle screwed this frack up by going on the cheap - trying to save a few bucks cost him the well. I have been told this well has been ruined- I wouldn’t be surprised is Tamboran tries to let it fade away into the sunset - such a shame because it didn’t have to happen!
RichGreenwood: I agree that the RAAAS report come off somewhat biased against Tamboran - I thought that was an odd approach to their analysis. We all know Tamboran is not the gold standard but why try to discredit another operator at this stage. They can all learn from each other by working together. I’m not impressed with their need to discredit to try to make Empire look better. Personally I think Tamboran is in the Heart of the Beetaloo and Empire is on the fringes.
BorntoBoogie: You are so on the spot with your comment that Tamboran management is a liability to Falcon. Sheffield has stepped in with more oversight which is a good thing. The 2H screwed up frack job was a result of Tamboran not following technical steps and trying to save a buck by not having the proper oversight personnel on location. The ‘lipstick on the pig’ ‘Skin’ explanation is not the problem as provided to both us and Falcon. The well has been screwed up to put it mildly and in the opinion of some is not fixable. Sorry I can’t give any further detailed information on the public board.
Let’s hope that the placement of two Sheffield people on Tamboran’s board along with Sheffield’s oversight of future frack jobs will help avoid these ‘Skin’ problems going forward.
Newtofo: One would think that the baseline of the water bore monitoring would already be established. IMO, we should be good to go. I suspect Tamboran see's things that away also as the well is set to be spudded in August(?).
On PR, I myself can wait for the final gavel to drop but I understand and am sensitive to the fact that different people have different agendas due to in the US IRA RMDs, living expenses etc. It's a shame that the stock price is languishing at this point in time when Falcon is holding 22.5% of this amazing concession. I agree with your comments that some retirement plans would be better served to be invested in Falcon. A little visibility/pr by Falcon or even promoting to some of these large private funds would not only be beneficial to them but to the Falcon stockholders also. Maybe POQ is doing more than we realize behind the scenes. I know Philip was always has been reluctant to do a big promote and push price up only to see it drop back down without any follow-up news. I hope when drilling actively starts that we might see Philip put a PR or have an analysis piece put out.
Newtofo/Longknife: As you know, I am a big supporter of POQ. I think he has done an excellent job of keeping us in the game with no debt - something to be said over all these years. Saying that, I do think he should get out there more to promote Falcon and the huge potential it has in its 22.5% interest the 4.6 million acre Beetaloo Basin. He can't keep repeating the same talking points time and again but it would help to once a year put out a nice PR piece covering the Beetaloo with it huge potential and how it's considered a national strategic asset of Australia and that Falcon is a JV non-operating partner participating in the drilling of these early test wells with their operating partner Tamboran. Resources. Just something to let the market know Falcon actually exist and is more than just another stupid penny stock. I think all of us current stockholders have all the stock we can stomach and there are no new investors to create demand for the stock. Just my opinion!
Even with this last completion failure - with all the potential of the Beetaloo this stock has no reason to be trading at these current levels. It's all because there is no hype or stories being told. POQ has the mindset that he/we should be in this for the final sale and that today's current stock prices means nothing. I believe in what he is saying but I can see where some stockholders are more sensitive to the current stock price. I also believe he needs to do more PR. as to all the success to be had for new investors just around the corner!
NorthernMagic: Interesting question. Falcon is getting towards the end of their carry and after this next Shanandoah well I assume the carry will about be used up other than the 2024 13 million carry for two wells. So if Tamboran spends say 5-7 million dollars trying to clean the well up it could be partially on Falcon's 22.5% tab. I expect a workover of the 2H will be after the Shanandoah well but likely before the next Amungee 3H well is drilled. I assume Falcon will let us know when their carry has expired.
Longknife: The A++ team is now at the helm. I have heard that Sheffield's people will be overseeing the fracking/completion of these wells going forward. This Skin issue should have never happened - it was a screwup on Tamboran's part. Joe Riddle has spent about $250 million to date and has nothing much to show for it. I'm glad to see the two new Sheffield board members on Tamboran's board and that Sheffield's guys are going to be overseeing these wells going forward. This screw-up cost Falcon not only a free carry but about a 6 month delay of languishing stock prices. I'm as frustrated as you are - we should have been sitting at about US .25 right now. This Epic Saga continues!
Newtofo: That is exactly my complaint about all this. If you are changing frack fluids one would think it would be prudent to test these new chemicals on the core samples of the shale. This is what labs do. If the lab can ascertain the skin problem after the fact one would think they could predict the issure ahead of time and change frack fluids. I truly don't understand - seems they let the horse out of the barn before they tested to try to fix the problem!!