High gamma is related to the uranium content which is not related to TOC or gas in place.  Organic materials scavenge uranium and horde it.  But what if they had their uranium content removed or it never was there.  Recent developments indicate that a high gamma kick is not neccessary.  Its in the TOC.  Thats where the hydrocarbons are retained.

There is a play going on in Utah in the Mancos, the Bend Shale in the Palo Duro and one in Michigan in the Utica that do not have high gamma kicks but they are making good wells.  This requires a different approach.  Good samples or cores for analysis to determine TOC.    While the pack hunts for high gamma I am looking for the high TOC.

Also we have to consider how our northerly neighbors look at US markets.  Over the past 20 years its easier for Canadian companies, whether based in the US and Canada to raise monies on properties in Canada or International.  The US typically is treated as the last place to go.  Partly because of the lititagous nature of the US and partly because it requires economic and political adeptness that is not necessary in the rest of the world.   The Canadian Oil & Gas sector tends to be all in Calgry, more polite and do not understand how to deal with private landowners or good old boys.

So where to go.  The market that is now taking its place as the funding center for the oil and gas sector is the AIM in London.  With good properties and management, plus a good contact there is a boat load of money can be raised.  The AIM is like the wild west or Vancouver was ten or more years ago.  In comparison its actually easier to have an oil company on the OTC then on the TSX.  The SEC allows to many OTC companies to get away with noncomplaince.   But because of that its difficult to raise money with small caps on the OTC.   But the AIM is somewhat more transparent.  

Unless Canada comes back to the equity market the place to be is AIM for the next few months.  If we remember, the railroads were built by the British and Scots when no one in the US would put up the cash.  They are back and rebuilding the US oil industry.Â

Coal bed methane reservoirs rely on water maintaining adsorbed methane in the coal by pressure.  Until the pressure is lowered to almost zero, in many cases, the methane gas will not flow to the well bore.  Recently, in some plays 3D or 2D seismic has been used to identify fracture trends.  This has had minimal success due to economics of coal bed methane resources.  Basically, the lower the cost for this type of resource play the better.  To date there is no verifiable evidence surface geochem was successful in a coal bed methane play.

In shale gas there are similar issues.  This type of resource is large and broad.  3D seismic is becoming successful because of the ability to identify fracutre and fault trends.  Surface geochem cannot identify in the subsurface where the frac or fault systems will be intersected by the drill bit.  This is why 3D is now being used aggressively and successfully. 

The level of detail sampling that needs to occur at the surface to find the fault or fracture trace is significiant and generally makes this method non-economic.  Also several of these plays have biogenic gas.  If the gas has migrated from the subsurface its difficult to separate from biogenic gas generated by biological activity at the surface.

 Surface Geochem is best used elsewhere .  

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