Small investors also investing in the gas exploration.

Bakos András 2009.02.07. 16:00

Mako – Small investors in Canada and the USA are betting some of their savings on the success of the gas explorations in the Mako trough, Hungary.They are more preoccupied with the starting date for production than the locals in the area of Mako.

They read the delmagyar.hu on the regular basis; they also discuss favorable or worrisome news about this exploration on the internet forum. They also heard about Csurka István’s opinion on Hungary’s gas wealth. The Orosháza born John Szekeres is one those investors, and in his estimate hundreds of small investors have risked many million dollars to invest in this Hungarian play.They are hoping that their bet pays off.

They have invested into the success of an enterprise that is more than 7000 kilometers away in Europe in the Carpathian basin, and this success depends on geological, legal rights and public sentiments. No wonder that they are interested in all the news they can get about the work performed here. We are talking about the hundreds of small investors with millions of dollars invested in the $300 million exploration by the Falcon Oil and Gas Ltd.

To learn more about the state of the on going exploration than the official information released by Falcon, the investors join in an internet forum to discuss all sorts of intelligence gathered about this operation in Hungary. From time to time, they have gathered information from the delmagyar.hu. The forum moderator John Szekeres translated articles that appeared in the delmagyar.hu to English. John, János in Hungarian, was born in Orosháza, and lives in Niagara Falls Canada for 42 years. He has brothers and a sister in Orosháza.

He has been following the forums about three years now, lately with heightened interest. They are interested in everything that related to this play, even though many parts of the puzzle fits together, there are some still unanswered questions, therefore some doubts still remains.

He has been questioning why the Hungarian media consistently writes that the gas in the Mako trough can be found in the depths of six kilometers. When presently the Exxon exploration program is limited to the Szolnok formation that extends to the depth of 4300 meters, where temperatures and pressures are a lot more favorable than at the 6000 meters depths.

Kutatómunka Óföldeák határában. A 300 millió dolláros beruházásban benne van Szekeresék pénze is.
Fotó: Karnok Csaba

Naturally, most of the investors are mostly interested whether this enterprise is economical and will the production start in 2012. The investors were worried when in 2007 some ancient-Hungarian group symbolically took possession of the gas resource in the name of the Saint Crown. The investors were also unhappy when the community TV and a weekly paper in the midst of the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute, wrote articles that was casting doubts on the chances of the successful exploitation of the Mako trough. John Szekeres has contacted us to verify the operations in Óföldeák with the 20 million dollar equipment operated by the Falcon-TXM partners Exxon and Mol, and its effect on the exploitation later on.

Szabó György TXM’s CEO in his reply to our question said, that he did not think it was significant news that they started the exploration with reworking an older well. That is what happened.

We also learned - and not from Szabó – that MOL started exploring 1500 meters from highway 47 at Kopáncs.

“We never said, that we are drilling an exploration well – we are doing a $300 million investment, that contrary to the allegations never has stopped and continues as it required” – said Szabó György.

Similarly, like the small investors, Szabó György also interested in all information pertaining to this investment. For that reason, he attended the forum in Mako, which was organized by Csurka István and his MIÉP party, about the Hungarian gas wealth. The politician said it is imperative that serious efforts are made to make sure that Hungary will receive the fair share of the profits from the exploitation. Szabó said that aside from statements by some extremist elements (“those dirty Americans just stopped the work”) the communications at the forum were in correct nature.

The CEO also said, the expected production in 2012 by the North-American investors is realistic, and it will materialize.

Everyone is expecting something

The North-American investors hoping their money multiplies. Closer home people are hoping that the exploitation of the Mako gas brings a few hundred new jobs to the region, and it will reduce the dependence on Russian gas, and in time, it may help to reduce the heating bill. According to the Hungarian media, that last wish is only a pipedream, the Country’s gas demand is 14-15 billion cubic meters, and the production from 2012 onward would be about 10 billion cubic meters. Therefore, Hungary still would need to import gas from other sources. The exploitation is much more difficult here than elsewhere, the ground below is very hot; the gas temperature is 200 Celsius when it comes to the surface. Still it worth the trouble, because there is an estimated 340 billion cubic meters recoverable gas in the Mako through. According to the information in the Heti Válasz, if the exploitation is economical, then Exxon and Mol receive 40-40 % Falcon has 20% and the Hungarian government gets12% mining royalties.

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