Senator Nick Xenophon warns defence about fracking at Oakey in southern Queensland. Ask the locals they will tell you all about fracking but what would they know? Regards Errol 43
I think the issue is that the science is out about fracking, there are an incredible amount of apparently disastrous situations caused by it and I think until we truly see what happens to the American sites we shouldn't sink another bore. Especially since oil isn't worth anything right now. I suspect we're going to see monolithic issues arising and it will be on par with leaded fuel and CFCs for the feeling of "shit, probably shouldn't have committed to that one so quickly, now what?".
Yeah yeah, The world's gunna end because there's "uncertainty". The industry is already regulated to death and has a multi-decade proven track record of being safe as long as certain precautions are taken. Ensure there's sufficient insurance in the event of a "disaster scenario" and let the engineers, geologists, geophysicists, hydrologists, scientists and other experts get on with doing what they are trained in doing. Risks exist in any human activity but risks can be managed. Some risks will be due to accidents, some will be due to human error and some due to natural disasters. But they can be minimised and/or adequately addressed if and when they eventuate. As the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer said in their 2014 report: "Having considered all the information from these sources and noting the rapid evolution of technological developments applicable to CSG from a wide range of disciplines, the Review concluded that the technical challenges and risks posed by the CSG industry can in general be managed through <a handful of things>".
The Oklahoma issue as I understand it is a hitherto undetected fault line that runs deep to a fracking area. It will be an interesting legal argument. Water quality is another issue and there are jurisdictions in the US that unfortunately have taken a pro frac fluid stance. This issue applies more to shallow methane beds below a water table, especially near arable land or urban development. Put it this way, Metgasco lost its rights to the biggest gas discoveries in NSW and walked away with 25 million as settlement rather than fight. Not sure about SW Qld - was that Linc Energy in Chinchilla? I think the issue for Australia is that fracking will happen and should, as the USA is maybe 10 years ahead of the game and the world will do this, even if we don't. If we don't, we will lose market share and risk a future of energy independence. To me, there is a lot of Greenie hysteria which is political in nature rather than evidence based. There are loads of places that could be hydro-fracked. In the USA, the break even point to frack most known large shales is about POO 60USD. Rig count was recently at a record low, kilometres long parked transloading/transport rail containers, proppant companies busted or plant idled and for the most part no new drilling, but much more stimulation down existing wells. We should develop our potential. A problem we have the US doesn't is the logistic infrastructure has to be built to get to the resource and freight it to port, reservoir or refinery.
