Fracking Fears Hits Swiss Shale Prospects
Concerns relating to hydraulic fracturing may put a hold on shale gas activities in Switzerland.
In April, authorities in the Swiss Canton of Fribourg suspended all authorizations to prospect for shale gas on its territory for an undetermined period.
The cantonal government decided not to renew a license granted to Schuepbach Energy to explore for shale gas. The license, first granted in 2008, expires at the end of the year.
Schuepbach has planned drilling in 2012 in the district of Glâne, where conventional exploration had taken place in the 1970s.
The Fribourg authorities said their decision was reached based on "the impact of drilling on the environment and pollution risks have not yet been clearly identified." They also stressed that the canton prefers to focus on renewable energies, rather than pursue the extraction of fossil fuels.
For Schuepbach, the Fribourg decision is a blow to its ambitions.
“It’s a panic reaction,” said Werner Leu, a geological consultant working for the company.
“The authorities say they want to avoid fossil fuels, but two thirds of energy needs are met by those fuels.”
“Besides, we are still at the evaluation stage and it would take a long time to get a drilling permit given the strict rules that must be followed,” said Leu.
Jan Mosar, a geologist at Fribourg University, calls the decision “courageous”, adding that searching for shale gas would just delay any response to our dependency on fossil fuels.
For Mosar, the risks of fracking are not to be underestimated. “Part of the injected products filters through to other rocks, from where they can reach underground water supplies, polluting them for a long time,” he explained.
Another concern is the possibility of man-made tremors, like the ones felt in Basel in 2006 during the construction of a geothermal project. “Underground fault lines run under many parts of canton Fribourg. If a well hits one of those faults, it could generate earthquakes,” said Mosar.
The risks remain theoretical for the time being since no wells can be dug in the prospection zone. Schuepbach, according to Leu, is still waiting for a definitive answer from the authorities and has not decided whether to pursue its activities in Switzerland and Europe.
Leu believes that the situation will eventually calm down and that it will still be possible to discuss “this future energy source”.
However, Jean-Marc Hensch, head of Switzerland’s gas industry association, doesn’t hold out much hope for shale gas in Switzerland.
“The small size of the territory and the cost of digging the appropriate wells make fracking unlikely in Switzerland,” he told Le Temps.
Leu admits that it is impossible to estimate the potential reserves of shale gas or how much it would cost to extract them since exploration is no longer possible. Switzerland’s size would not be a problem since six to eight wells can be dug at the same site.
He says pollution is not an issue either, saying that any problems so far have been due to the use of outdated or inappropriate materials.
Switzerland’s Molasse Basin forms part of major regional play in continental Europe. An examination of result of conventional oil and gas research in Switzerland from several decades past, have suggested favorable geological prospects for shale gas in Switzerland .
"The potential is in the tens of billions of cubic meters, while the annual gas consumption in Switzerland is three billion cubic meters, calculates René Bautz, director of Gaznat, a leading gas distribution company with a virtual monopoly on gas distribution in western Switzerland.
Gaznat, which is majority owned by Services Industriels de Genève and the Town of Lausanne, has an interest in participating in the development of shales. Gaznat has not yet determined the exact form of this cooperation, particularly in the phase of prospecting and exploratory drilling, but discussions for a partnership are underway.
The Swiss Federal Government remains open to exploring the potential of shale gas, despite strong opposition from the Socialists and Green parties.
The federal authorities won’t be intervening to stop prospecting. According to Federal Environment Office spokesman Matthieu Buchs, the government is monitoring the situation, but is not planning any restrictions on exploration
Schuepbach, which recently suffered a significant setback in its shale gas exploration efforts in France, is still hoping for a positive response to a request for another exploration permit in the Canton of Vaud.
Source: swissinfo.ch