As a market becomes saturated with new entrants, the need to take the path less followed becomes important if a company is to profit. Legwork and research becomes the key to success before any action is taken to expend valuable resources. If an investor can find a company that has done its homework to prove potential, he will have found a company that may be profitable.
Trans-Orient Petroleum Inc., a junior Canadian oil and gas exploration and development company, works to discover and exploit oil and natural gas primarily in New Zealand. The company controls 100% of approximately 2.2 million acres of land within the country’s East Coast Basin region.
The company is approaching its drilling opportunities from two directions; conventional oil drilling and unconventional horizontal fraction drilling. The conventional drilling program is currently pursuing reserves of approximately 1.7 billion barrels of oil, while the future plan for unconventional oil drilling revolves around large reserves of unfractured shale.
The company’s first venture will take place at its Waitangi site. This site has an unfulfilled history dating back to 1885, with geological surveys of the time indicating great potential. Through further testing, the company has found that this site offers fairly shallow opportunities and will produce revenue in the near future. In many places, the site even has oil seepage to the surface and gas signals.
Regardless of the potential that the company’s Waitangi site holds, its main focus appears to be the unconventional oil play. These unfractured deposits are found thought the company’s permit areas and are somewhat similar to unconventional oil deposits found in North Dakota, Montana, and the North Sea. Generally of marine geological history, these deposits hold their oil at the point of origin in the development of an oil deposit. To extract the oil before it becomes held in a “pooling” form (which is technically not a correct description but accepted), a fracturing process needs to be undertaken to release the oil from the rock strata.
Trans-Orient has taken new drilling technology developed in major shale oil regions of the US and plans to capitalize with it. The potential for these areas has yet to be determined to a certainty, but from all appearances shows great opportunity. The company has staked its claim to one of the last, less-explored oil and gas regions of the world. As other junior operators branch out around the world to better their chances of finding a solid stake, Trans-Orient has become one of the leading junior exploration companies with the potential to profit by its status.
Let us hear your thoughts below: