SMH: Prospectors go deep to tap Top End gas reserves

Having fracked parts of NSW and Queensland, energy miners are now looking to drill deep into Australia's red heart as a gas rush engulfs the Top End.

A map of mining interests compiled by landowners, obtained by the Herald, shows a sea of exploration permits and applications spread across tens of thousands of square kilometres, including around some of the Northern Territory's most distinctive national parks.

The prospectors are hunting gas trapped thousands of metres deep in shale using techniques similar to those involved in controversial coal seam gas mining. MORE