Nighthawk holds a 50% working interest in a 410,000 gross acre shale oil project in Colorado. Running Foxes Petroleum Inc. holds the remaining working interest and is the operator of the project.

The rise in dominance of shale gas and more recently, shale oil, in the mergers and acquisitions markets of North America reflects a changing in shape of the industry, particularly in the USA.

Within the last decade the gas industry in the USA has undertaken a fundamental U-turn from having to look to source international gas supply to meet its domestic needs by building multiple LNG facilities to being so inundated with potential domestic production that the country has become a virtual LNG exporter.

This massive rise in gas resources and production is down to the rise in prominence and success of the shale gas industry, so much so the price for natural gas has plummeted in the last few years partly due to this success.

The USA is now so gas rich that many of the established players in the Shale Gas industry, such as XTO, EOG and Chesapeake have publically stated that more liquids focused shale plays will be the next game changer and many of them are halting shale gas work to seek shale oil related plays and indeed a number of shale oil plays are bringing to rise in prominence; most notably the Eagle Ford and Niobrara.

Jolly Ranch Group

Nighthawk holds a 50% interest in the Jolly Ranch Group project (“Jolly Ranch”) comprising the Jolly Ranch, Middle Mist and Mustang Creek areas, covering approximately 410,000 gross acres of Lincoln, Elbert and Washington Counties, Colorado. Running Foxes is the operator of the project and holds the remaining percentage interest. 

Jolly Ranch lies within the southeast flank of the Denver-Julesburg Basin, a major mid-continent hydrocarbon producing basin. The source of the produced hydrocarbons is the black organic shales that are interbedded with siliclastic and carbonate rocks. The shales at Jolly Ranch are within the oil generation window and there is reasonable certainty of reservoir and source rock continuity throughout the project area.

To date, 19 wells of 7,500-8,000 feet have been drilled on a core 50,000 acre area by Nighthawk and Running Foxes, all of which have encountered multiple pay horizons. These wells are undergoing completion operations to determine the optimum method of fraccing and several have been placed on long term production.  Two wells are being utilised as water disposal wells due to their prime location thereby lowering the costs associated with water transportation.

The current work programme is the undertaking of various testing and fraccing procedures on numerous shale target formations to determine the optimum production plan and also gain a greater understanding of this non-conventional play. In addition to testing, our main efforts have been focused on proving up the extent of the asset to help establish the wider project value.

Michael Thomsen - Executive Chairman

Mike has over 30 years experience in the natural resources industry and has worked in over 40 countries on acquisitions, project development and exploration. He has directed and managed a number of energy and minerals companies and was the former Chairman of Oil Quest Resources plc. Mike was previously Chief Geologist with Freeport-McMoRan Inc, a major US energy and minerals producer, where he directed programs in the Permian Basin of west Texas and the Gulf of Mexico region.

Tim Heeley - Chief Executive

Tim joined Nighthawk with 15 years of equity and debt experience in the City, most recently as Head of Oil and Gas Research at stockbroker Daniel Stewart & Co. Previously he was Senior Manager of Standard Bank's Oil and Gas team and Senior Oil and Gas Analyst at Panmure Gordon. Prior to working in the City, Tim enjoyed an eight year career in the E&P sector as a project development engineer working with such companies as Shell, BP, Exxon and BG on numerous international hydrocarbon projects. Tim is a Chartered Engineer, a member of the Energy Institute and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Stuart Eaton - Non-Executive Director

Stuart was Head of UK Equity Alpha at Insight Investment Management Limited. Founded by HBOS in 2002, Insight had assets under management of £119 billion in 2009. Stuart joined Insight in May 2005 and was responsible for the management of UK equity long only portfolios

Geoffrey Metzger - Non-Executive Director

Geoffrey was a member of the London Stock Exchange for 25 years and a member of The Securities Institute. He has been involved with raising finance for companies in the natural resources sector for over 20 years. He was a director of Emerald Energy Plc between 1990 and 1998.

Brian Marshall FCA - Financial Controller and Company Secretary

Brian is a chartered accountant who established his own independent accountancy practice in Bath ten years ago. His practice provides audit, accountancy and taxation services to a diverse range of clients

Click here for further information