The Spanish Council of Ministers awarded two new onshore exploration licenses to San Leon Energy PLC’s wholly owned subsidiary, Frontera Energy, targeting both unconventional and conventional resources.
The Aquiles license covers 252,927 acres in Zaragoza basin while the Cronos license covers 239,596 acres in the Almazan basin. Aquiles license involves the Zaragoza and Navarro regions while the Cronos license involves the Soria and Guadalajara regions.
Both licenses contain unconventional Paleozoic potential, said San Leon, which will target Permian, Carboniferous, Silurian and Devonian shales.
San Leon also sees potential for conventional targets in shallower sections within the licenses, both of which were granted for 6 years and will be divided into three 2-year stages.
These are the second and third licenses to be granted to San Leon Energy in Spain, where San Leon now holds 704,351 acres. Six pending llicense applications cover 1.5 million acres across the Pyrenees and Solsona basins.
San Leon also has interest in Baltic shale assets in Poland (OGJ Online, July 17, 2012).