Waipawa-Whangai Fractured Shale

Outcrop of oil-rich fractured shale.

Widespread Fractured Shale Source Rocks
TAG Oil's significant acreage encompasses the primary play areas where both the Waipawa Black Shale and Whangai fractured shale formations are widespread, thickly developed and mature. These oil- and gas-rich shale formations are present throughout most of the Company's multi-million acre land holding, and are comparable in total organic carbon content and oil and gas maturity levels to such successful fractured oil and gas shale plays as the Bakken Shale of North America's prolific Williston Basin, and the Barnett Shale in East Texas. In addition, measured primary porosities in both the Waipawa Black Shale and the Whangai Shale Formation are favorably in the 22-30% range, well above what is typically found in the Bakken or Barnett.

The Waipawa Black Shale and Whangai Shale formations together have always been viewed as rich, high-quality source rock, though they were never considered to be producible until the success of the Barnett Shale. Extraction success there, where reserves are estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to be in excess of 25 trillion cubic feet, has provided a model for shale exploration throughout the world. Continuing developments in drilling capabilities and hydraulic fracturing technology support TAG Oil's strategy for unlocking major reserves in the Waipawa Black Shale and Whangai Shale source rock.

A New Era of Exploration Success, Driven by Advanced Technology
Technology-driven fractured oil and gas shale plays have become the hottest plays in the industry, rapidly emerging with great success across North America and around the world. As conventional hydrocarbon reserves continue to decline, experts estimate that up to 70% of the world's future reserves will be sourced from unconventional oil and gas resources such as these. Wood Mackenzie estimates that nearly 3.6 trillion barrels of unconventional, undeveloped oil equivalent exist in formations that were once thought to be unproducible. That is triple the 1.2 trillion barrels of conventional oil considered recoverable from conventional oil reserves.