eCORP UK and partners joined by Total UK in British shale exploration effort

HOUSTON, Jan. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- eCORP UK, a subsidiary of privately held eCORP International, LLC, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Farm-out Agreement (the "Agreement") with Total E&P UK Limited ("Total"), along with partners Island Gas Limited, Egdon Resources U.K. Limited and GP Energy Limited (a subsidiary of Dart Energy Limited).

The Agreement has been made in respect of two large UK Onshore Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences, PEDL 139 and PEDL 140 (the "Licences"), located in the Gainsborough Trough in Lincolnshire.  The Licences cover an area of 240 square kilometres.

This Agreement supplants eCORP's previous farm-in agreement with IGas, Egdon and GP Energy. Transaction details and statements have been provided earlier today by the other parties involved.

Commenting on the Agreement, John Francis Thrash, CEO of eCORP International, LLC, said:

"The entry of this highly respected global shale operator into the UK shale gas exploration effort is a watershed event, not only for the UK, but also, we believe, continental Europe.  From a North American shale E&P perspective, this very compelling prospect has many of the physical attributes of the best basins in the US.  From a shale M&A perspective, the transaction, which represents about one percent of our UK/Europe holdings, is a quantum leap in value creation."

Commenting on the acquisition, Patrice de Vivies, Total's Senior Vice President for Northern Europe, said:

"This opportunity is an important milestone for Total E&P UK and opens a new chapter for the subsidiary in a promising onshore play. The Group is already involved in shale gas projects in the US, Argentina, China, Australia and in Europe in Poland and in Denmark, and will leverage its expertise in this new venture in the UK."

About eCORP International, LLC

General Information – Founded in 1978, eCORP and its predecessor companies have extensive oil and gas experience spanning underground natural gas storage, natural gas transportation, enhanced oil recovery in conventional reservoirs using propane and butane, exploration for and production of conventional and unconventional (shale) reservoirs, electric power generation and marketing of electricity and natural gas. 

Environmental Care and Safety – The company is distinctly characterized by its impeccable safety record, commitment to environmentally sensitive, green development, surface aesthetics and extensive, proactive community engagement driven by an overarching commitment to achieve local community acceptance of its developments, maximize economic and cultural benefit for the local community and build enduring community relationships.‎ In so doing, eCORP has historically moved ahead of and beyond industry and regulatory standards in innovating adaptive technologies to address not only challenging geologic but significantly, environmentally sensitive conditions.

Typical Projects – As a consequence, eCORP was an early mover in the Marcellus play in Pennsylvania, recognizing the play's potential while developing the company's highly acclaimed Stagecoach Storage Natural Gas Storage Facility in upstate New York, and has acquired multi-million prospective conventional and unconventional acreage positions internationally.

Field Services – The company's broad background in hydrocarbon based, green development led to the formation of subsidiary/affiliate services companies, including ecorpStim and eCOREx:

ecorpStim (www.ecorpstim.com) provides reservoir stimulation using pure home-use liquid propane and/or non-flammable liquid fluoro-propane (the propellant in pediatric and adult lung inhalers) in combination with low-density proppants.   These ultra simple binary combinations provide a profoundly environmental impact mitigating reservoir stimulation technology – completely eliminating the use of water, chemical additives, and thus any potential aquifer contamination from any leak or spill at the surface – as the ecorpStim processes use (A) zero water and zero chemicals, and (B) both forms of propane used are gases at ambient pressure and temperature, and thus dissipate quickly.

eCOREx provides specially adapted, zero discharge slim hole drilling for evaluating hydrocarbon reservoirs within a short time frame, obtaining continuous core samples from the surface to total depth of the well with real time analysis of the core samples.

eCORP expects to deploy these field services and environmentally sound technologies in Europe, and globally, to develop its own portfolio of E&P assets, as well as to provide the services to third parties.

Please see:  www.ecorpintl.com

Contact Information

‎John F. Thrash
Chairman & CEO
eCORP International, LLC
(713) 520-0993
[email protected]

Mark Stauss
Director of Commercial Operations
eCORP International, LLC
(713) 520-0993
[email protected]

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SOURCE eCORP International, LLC