UK Decision Benefits Australia's AJ Lucas
A decision by UK’s influential House of Commons Energy and Climate Change committee is good news for Australian engineering infrastructure, building construction and drilling services company AJ Lucas Group.
AJ Lucas is a founding shareholder in shale gas explorer Cuadrilla Resources, which is presently drilling in the Bowland shale near to Blackpool.
Choosing a path different from that taken by French legislators, the Common Select Committee concluded that drilling for shale gas should not be banned and the new fuel source could improve the UK's energy security.
The report by the committee said, "there is no evidence that the hydraulic fracturing process itself poses a direct risk to underground water aquifers."
“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 committee chair, Tim Yeo in a statement.
“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.”
Cuadrilla is the only company presently undertaking shale gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations in the UK at sites in Lancashire.
The report urged the Department of Energy and Climate Change to monitor Cuadrilla’s drilling activity "extremely closely during its early stages in order both to assess the likely environmental impact of large scale shale gas extraction in the UK and also to promote public confidence in the regulation of the activity.”
The reports stated that legislation and regulation of shale gas exploration and exploitation should take specific account of the challenges unique to shale gas exploration and production; specifically, the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling at multiple wells that requires large volumes of water and chemicals, and leads to the production of large volumes of waste water that must be managed and disposed of.
A list of recommendations include:
- testing of the integrity of wells before allowing the licensing of drilling activity.
- the requirement for disclosure of the type, concentration and volume of all chemicals involved in hydraulic fracturing
- monitoring of flowback and produced water from unconventional gas operations for potentially hazardous material that has been released from the shale formation
- water and air be monitored for contamination both before and during shale gas operations
France’s lower house of parliament voted earlier this month ban fracking, sending legislation to the Senate for final approval next month.
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