BNK to Focus on North Rhine Westphalia in German Shale Search

BNK Petroleum Inc. has announced that it has decided to stop its shale gas exploration activities in selected areas of Germany.

The company, which has been an early entrant in the European shale gas sector, intends to relinquish its five concessions in Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony to concentrate its unconventional exploration efforts in Germany on its three remaining concessions in North Rhine Westphalia.

BNK said that geological work conducted over the last few years indicates an increased geological risk for unconventional oil and gas projects on the five concessions.

California based BNK said that the move was a  result of an internal ranking of all of the company's international projects, which considers the geological risk and expected resource potential.

Updating its unconventional activities in Spain, BNK stated that it had submitted five separate Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) documents for its exploration permits on its Sedano and Urraca concessions. The EIA’s are part of the process to obtain approval to drill exploration wells on these concessions.

In Poland, BNK is still awaiting approval for the re-entry of the Gapowo B-1 well for the drilling of a horizontal leg.