U.S. shale gas operators chaired by Haynesville and Eagle Ford shale co-head Dick Stoneburner have submitted an S-1 filing for an initial public offering of Australian shale gas explorer Tamboran Resources Corp. submitted.
Dick Stoneburner (Source: Tamboran)
The group plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange as TBN, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The S-1 did not contain an estimate of the total funds to be raised or the price range per share.
The largest shareholder in Australian-listed Tamboran (ASX: TBN) is Bryan Sheffield, founder of Permian shale developer Parsley Energy Inc., which he sold to Pioneer Natural Resources for $7.6 billion in 2021.
Pioneer was acquired by Exxon Mobil Corp. last week. for $59.5 billion worth of shares.
Stoneburner, a professional geologist, was co-head of Petrohawk Energy Corp. as of late 2007. in the early days of leasing and delineation of the Haynesville shale gas play in northwest Louisiana.
In 2008, Petrohawk made good on the discovery of the liquids-rich Eagle Ford.
Bryan Sheffield (Source: Hart Energy)
After selling Petrohawk to BHP Billiton in 2012 for $15.1 billion, Stoneburner served as president of BHP's new North American shale division.
In addition to Sheffield, Tamboran investors include leading U.S. shale pressure producer Liberty Energy Inc., which in December sent one of its frac spreads to complete its latest well, Shenandoah South #1H.
The well had a 30-day IP of 3.2 MMcf/d from a 1,644 foot lateral completed in 10 stages. The 60-day flow rate was 3.0 MMcf/d; the 90-day flow rate is 2.9 MMcf/d according to S-1.
Normalized to a 10,000-foot side length, the 30-day flow equals 19.5 MMcf/d, Tamboran reported in the S-1.
Another investor, Helmerich & Payne Inc., a leading U.S. shale driller, drilled the well using one of its newest FlexRigs, operated both on site and remotely from H&P's headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Resembles Marcellus
Sydney-based Tamboran owns 4.7 million gross contiguous acres in the Beetaloo Basin target area; net, 1.9 million acres, according to S-1.
Located in north central Australia, the Beetaloo lies beneath an approximately 7 million hectare outback that is flanked at its northwestern corner by Daly Waters, a town on the 1,900-mile Australian Highway 1 that stretches from Darwin to Adelaide.
Tamboran Resources' Beetaloo Basin lease includes appraisal drilling by the Company and previous explorers. (Source: Tamboran Resources)
Over several decades of exploration, including in 2015 by late Chesapeake Energy Corp. co-founder Aubrey McClendon, researchers have invested more than $600 million testing Beetaloo's Middle Velkerri B Formation, which Tamboran says is in their geophysical properties similar to Marcellus Shale, according to S-1.
The target is over 6,000 feet.
Tamboran drilled six test wells on the lease, including two early holes with a then-partner, Santos Ltd.
Tamboran currently owns the six wells. They are locked up, waiting to come together to be connected to the large line that runs along Highway 1 and is operated by the Australian-based line and electricity company APA Group (which is not affiliated with the U.S.-based APA Corp. , which owns Apache Corp.).
Tamboran expects to be able to extract up to 2 billion cubic feet per day from its lease area once the field is fully developed.
Including testing by others, 21 holes were drilled through the Middle Velkerri Formation, according to S-1.
In addition to Stoneburner, the board members also include Fred Barrett, co-founder and former CEO of US tight rock explorer Bill Barrett Corp.
Tamboran management includes Faron Thibodeaux, COO, the Australia manager for Apache Corp. was before Apache sold its Australian business in 2015.
Its CEO is Joel Riddle, who previously worked at offshore explorer Cobalt International Energy.
Joint underwriters for the IPO are BofA Securities, Citigroup and RBC Capital Markets. Co-managers are Johnson Rice & Co. and Piper Sandler.
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