uk approves shale gas drilling

Committee OKs UK shale drilling
A parliamentary select committee has given shale gas drilling in the UK the green light following a six-month study into the impacts of the controversial process.
Aleya Begum 23 May 2011 21:44 GMT
The committee said it found no evidence that processes involved in extracting the rock gas posed any risk of polluting water aquifers � as long as wells are constructed properly and thus a moratorium was not justified or necessary.There has been a lot of hot air recently about the dangers of shale gas drilling, but our inquiry found no evidence to support the main concern that UK water supplies would be put at risk, said chair of the committee, Member of Parliament Tim Yeo.

the governments regulatory agencies must of course be vigilant and monitor drilling closely to ensure that air and water quality is not being affected.

Shale gas development, which has exploded in the US, has faced mixed scrutiny as exploration has picked up in Europe.

While energy-security-conscious Poland has ploughed on with efforts to develop its shale resources, France has imposed a moratorium until it better understands the impact of the processes involved.

The most pressing issue has been concerns that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, used in shale extraction, poses a direct risk to water aquifers.

Fracking sees water, sand and chemicals pumped into the ground to release the gas from tight pores.

There are concerns that the chemicals used by operators can pollute local water supplies. The US Environmental Protection Agency is currently in the process of carrying out a study investigating the claim.

There appears to be nothing inherently dangerous about the process of fracking itself, and as long as the integrity of the well is maintained, shale gas extraction should be safe,said Yeo.

The committee said, however, that it did not expect onshore shale development in the UK to be a "game changer" for the country's gas supplies.

Onshore shale gas reserves in the UK could be quite considerable and will certainly help us increase our energy security, though not, unfortunately, very dramatically,said Yeo.

Offshore reserves may be much higher and, while more costly to recover, could potentially deliver self-sufficiency in gas for the UK at some point in the future.

The British Geological Survey estimates that the UK onshore shale gas resources could be as large as 150 billion cubic metres, equivalent to roughly 1.5 years of total UK gas consumption and worth around 28 billion ($45 billion) at current prices.

This figure is equivalent to 15 years of the UK current LNG imports.

More recent estimates from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) say the UK has technically recoverable shale gas resources equivalent to 5.6 years worth of consumption, or 56 years worth of LNG imports.