In My European Backyard

When it comes to drilling for hydrocarbons, it’s not just Europeans who are not used to seeing drilling rigs on the landscape.

Just contrast how drilling rigs are perceived by the public in Texas versus in New York State.

“To us it’s no big deal to see them, like near the airport,” explained Chris Faulkner, CEO at Breitling Oil & Gas at the Tight and Shale Gas Summit in Budapest, Hungary.

“It’s an entirely different environment. In Albany, in upstate New York they say ‘Whoa, we’re not ready for that.’”

He said that in a place like Texas there were “not a whole lot of homes; trucks going up and down these roads to bring water and sand; a fresh water pond to capture the fluids.”

“People see this and they think ‘how is this going to happen on my land in the UK or in the Paris basin?’ That’s where we're still missing the boat, public perception has to be earned.”

He said the oil and gas industry was lacking in doing in doing its own PR and marketing, and that this was a factor in how people perceived unconventional gas. 

His slide showed protesters with the word “frack” crossed out on their signs.

“This is what we’ve got ourselves into,” he said. “A lot of it is the industry’s fault. I’m not saying that hydraulic fracturing is dangerous, but a lot of people think it is.”

Faulkner contended that a secretive culture didn’t work well with such protesters.

He also spoke of perceptions of water usage, where water was scarce, like in a town of 2,000 people in Texas. He portrayed locals’ reactions there. 

“We get it, you’re not contaminating the water well, but you’re using 3 million gallons of water and so is the next guy. What are we going to do if the aquifer runs dry?”

At the same event, Pickard Trepess, Regional Sales Manager of Mirfak S.A. Minerals, weighed in on perceptions of unconventional gas a la Gasland.

“I’ve never seen a water tap that you could light,” he stated. “It’s known that this guy’s sewage system developed biogas - the maker of Gasland acknowledges that.

“We’ve done a bad job of telling the public that this is not what happens in America,” he continued. “The incidence of contamination is so low and emerges from the lack of proper casing.”

Unconventional gas production in Europe, contended Mr. Trepess, would require a completely different approach.

“If we look at the footprint of a hydraulic frack, just the shear number of tanks, not even counting the amount of water, also brought by truck, the amount of pumps, etc. something in Europe has to change if we’re going to do unconventional gas, because we don’t have that sort of equipment available.”

He said there was a great need to get local involvement in exploration projects.

“The first step is to talk with everybody and work with them on how we can improve jobs. Work with them on a small scale, and try not to intrude on their lives. We’re trying to do drilling with soundproofed rigs, getting the local population to understand that we’re working for and with them, not against them.”

Trepess suggested that the same pipeline used to get gas to local communities could be used to deliver necessary water. “The biggest complaint is the trucks,” he explained. You’ve instantly removed one of the complaints that locals will have.”

He said he believed there were many steps the industry could take to prevent environmental damage in Europe.

“Who are we trying to hide the data from?” he asked, referring to secrecy regarding fraccing fluids. “Full public disclosure really doesn’t cost us anything. The only people we’re fooling is ourselves by not working with the public.”

“Eventually we might look at long laterals,” he continued. “One pad could hold 18 wells. That kind of information needs to be given to the public so they don’t think there will be 5,000 wells in their town, to avoid some of the misconceptions.”

“As long as we keep saying I can’t tell you what the makeup is, then there will be lack of trust,” offered Chris Faulkner. “Everyone in the industry knows what’s in the mix of everyone’s hydraulic fracturing fluid. If someone tells you it’s top secret, that sounds bad.”

As to whether unconventional gas could become a major pathway to a low-carbon world economy, he opined: “Renewables have a place in the industry, but natural gas and oil will still dominate the energy mix for the next century on.”