“If the Beetaloo is Ahlbrandt's baby, South Africa's Karoo Basin is Ben Law's. This renowned geologist served with Ahlbrandt on the World Energy Project in the capacity of regional coordinator for South Asia. His credentials in unconventionals include expertise in the production of oil from shales in Russia's Timan-Pechora. Law also originated the Basin Centered Gas Accumulation (BCGA) concept at the USGS, and therefore is advising Falcon's technical team in Hungary, which is attempting to tap just such a deposit in the Makó Trough. Nonetheless, Law has also had his eye on the southern portion of the Karoo Basin, which has an unconventional fractured shale/sandstone gas play.

Consequently, in October 2009 Falcon signed a one-year Technical Cooperation Permit (TCP) to evaluate some 30,352 sq km in the Karoo Basin. This "desktop study" does not require any drilling, but gives the company exclusive rights to sign an exploration permit in a year's time that would require the drilling of one or two wells in 2011. The principal focus of the study is gas from fractured shale and sandstone in Permian rocks. Nine wells were drilled in the area during in the late 1960s and early 1970s, all of which encountered gas shows, including one that flowed at an unstimulated rate of 1.84 MMcfg/d from a depth of 2,531m.

Shortly after Falcon secured its acreage for study, Shell signed a TCP for the 185,000 sq km surrounding Falcon's permit. Sasol, in partnership with Statoil and US shale- gas-leader Chesapeake Energy, has also submitted an application for shale gas exploration rights in the Karoo Basin. With neighbors like these, it's small wonder that Falcon has solicited interest from several companies and is in discussions in potential joint venture partners.”