Australian Shares Sparty's Blog
Comments on this blog should never be taken as investment advice
Posts on this website are general "tips" and nothing more than that and should never be used to make an investment or trading decision. All information should be carefully cross-checked against official sources for accuracy.
Main Forum•Will AWE play chicken with Perth's major water source?
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According to today's petroleumnews.net AWE is pressing on with its Perth basin shale gas plans....
"On the drilling front, AWE is planning to drill Arrowsmith-2, which will twin an existing well, and carry out fracture stimulation of both this well and the existing Woodada Deep-2 well."
"Clement said the two fracs would provide good points to determine the performance of the shales in the Perth Basin, adding he was very positive about the prospects there."
In the light of the ABC's Four Corners program: The Gas Rush last night that highlighted the growing discontent by Qld and NSW farmers and blockies about the problems with QGC's CSM program you'd think that Perth's residents might be getting just a little worried. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2011/s3144806.htm
The situation re Qld and NSW seemed dire enough to spark quite a lot of protest but for AWE to target the Perth Basin in the midst of a record breaking drought seems a step to far.... Still as yet no protest from Perth. Heads in the sand or do they know something that we don't? -
The Quebec ruling on shale gas might be the reason for AWE's fall today
"Its principal advice - that there should be no more new shale-gas drilling except to collect information for environmental-impact studies, expected to take about two years - is close to the moratorium that environmentalists along with the political opposition have been calling for since shale gas became a burning issue over the past year. At the same time, however, it extends a lifeline to the industry in that it does not bring development of the resource to an entire standstill. Nor does it preclude future commercial exploitation of what could be a significant resource boon to the province.
The benefit for the provincial government is that is gives it a convenient and honourable way out of the sticky situation it created by encouraging full-bore shale-gas exploration operations without a thorough understanding of the environmental consequences and without exacting appropriate compensation for drilling rights. The result was a furious backlash not just from green crusaders but also concerned citizens living in potentially affected areas.
The reported potential hazards of shale-gas extraction by way of the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process are certainly frightening: methane-gas leakages, water tables polluted by the chemicals used in the process, the release of radioactive elements underground, and the possibility of waste water from drill sites entering rivers upstream from drinking-water plants. On the other hand, the BAPE study concluded that while there may be strong suspicions as to these hazards, they have not been conclusively proven to be an inevitable consequence of shale-gas extraction. Read more
However, as previously discussed, there is a lot more at stake due to Perth's absolute dependence on its underground water supply and AWE's heavy leverage to the Perth Basin's shale bonanza for future profits....
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Western Australia's Environmental Protection Authority advised AWE on Monday that it did not need to assess the company's application for hydraulic fracture stimulation on its onshore Arrowsmith-2 shale gas play near the town of Dongara.
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Sparty, I have been following the reports on coal seam and shale gas and am uncertain about concerned about the effects that they may have. But I think that the 2 could be separated. Coal and Shale are not the same in many ways. Do you know if the risks are the same? Alite
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I think the risks for CSM might outweigh the shale gas plays but increasingly we are seeing countries banning both on concerns that fraccing will cause dangerous leakages into aquifiers or disturb groundwater levels.
CSM is a definite risk to ground water as to get the methane out they have to pump out the water that is holding in the gas. The water (frequently high in salt etc) taken out is usually disposed of via evaporation ponds that can incur seepage and airborne distribution of other pollutants.I think the main concern with shale gas extraction is the fraccing itself.
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I first raised the issue of the potential dangers of "fraccing" in regard to Perth's dependance on its groundwater around a year ago. The recent publication: State of Australian Cities contains the image reproduced below.
As can be readily seen Perth is Australia's only capital city that is highly/heavily dependent on groundwater.
Should Perth's people be worried? I don't know but I find the lack of published information or discussion worrying. -
Excellent info Can you say why you are worried about Coal Seal Methane (CSM) and certain fraccing activities and yet not concerned about CTP's activities or those of Linc Energy?
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Re Linc and Central Petroleum.... both of them have large coal resources that are well away from agricultural land. In fact both have deep coal in very arid areas and their coal fields are sandwiched between impermeable rock etc. LINC and CTP are both interested in Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) and the conversion of the resultant syngas to liquids (GTL). (UCG-GTL).
UCG-GTL doesn't involve fraccing or the pumping out of very large amounts of water as does CSM. -
What is the difference between Underground Coal Gassification and CSM Fraccing?
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Our website www.ucg-gtl.com explains Underground Coal Gasification. Have a read and then come back.
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Sparty, Will the mining that you agree with affect the aquifer that is the great Artesian Basin?
Alite
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CTP's UCG will not affect the great Artesian Basin! CTP's coal seams are up to 200metres in diameter and that allows for a very safe burn chamber.
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Sparty, Clive Palmer has bought ~5% of CTP. I see him as a destructive personality. His stated hobby is to litigate. CTP's worth has been projected at 20c/share in the near term and 40c in a few years. Do you think that the company can work to produce product with Clive being his influential and disruptive self.
