O&G Journal: Shale gas operations must hinge on environmental safety, panelist say

The US natural gas industry must continue to focus on ensuring that shale gas is produced in an environmentally safe manner in concert with continuing to disclose information about operations to help minimize public opposition to development, panelist told conference attendees Mar. 5 at IHS CERA Week in Houston.

The panel was composed mainly of members of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Subcommittee on Shale Gas Production, which issued its second 90-day report in late 2011 (OGJ Online, Nov. 10, 2011). In that report, the subcommittee reviewed progress made on its 20 recommendations outlined in its initial report, issued Aug. 18, 2011. These recommendations highlighted concerns about water quality and management, air quality and effects, and community impacts.

One panelist, John Deutch, institute professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and chairman of the SEAB subcommittee, stressed that shale gas boom in the US and its contribution to the nation’s energy mix—currently assessed at 30%—has been the most important energy development in his 50 years in the industry. He cautioned, however, that if environmental concerns surrounding the processes for shale gas extraction are not acknowledged and addressed by industry in a “serious, consistent, and real way,” public confidence will continue to falter, causing the expected expansion of shale gas production across the US to be delayed or halted outright.

Illustrating this point of the anticipated expansion of shale gas, Deutch noted some forecasters calling for the drilling of 100,000 shale gas wells over the next 10-15 years.  MORE