oil shale terminology, page-15

I won't be exploring for oil shale like conventional O&G.

If I were Santos, with the $30m, I will pick 25 prospective areas from available 2D, and drill to extract a core sample of the oil shale. From analysis of the core samples, we obtain the depth, thickness, porosity, temperature, TOC, S1, S2, VR, H1 and all the parameters required to determine if an area is prospective for extraction.

If prospective areas are identified, we spend the next $50m to test them using lateral drilling and fraccing. By then, we should have a fair idea if the oil shale will be productive. If prospects are really hot, we should see the value of the acreage increase a 100 fold.

The best short listed candidates are then put into production with the final $50m. When oil and gas are produced and positive cash flow generated, we reach parity with Eagle Ford valuation.