Bulgaria target of coal seam gas exploration

Park Place Energy Corp., with headquarters in Texas, announced it signed a license agreement to explore coal as a source for natural gas in Bulgaria.

The company penned the agreement with the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy and Energy to explore the Vranino block in the country's northeast region.

Park Place said Tuesday it would drill five wells and utilize seismic data to get a better understanding of the resource potential to exploit coal resources as a potential for natural gas development.

According the company, Bulgaria relies on imports for nearly all of its natural gas needs. It said it was upbeat about the work plan, however, adding the Vranino block is less than 10 miles away from an existing gas transit network that sends Russian gas to European consumers.

The country's parliament in 2012 banned hydraulic fracturing, a drilling practice used to coax natural gas from shale reserves. Park Place said the ban doesn't extend to coal seams, another source of unconventional gas reserves.

Park Place offered no estimate of the reserve potential in Bulgaria.