PNR Online: Perth Basin Shale Gas Rush Is On

The shale gas rush is on in the Perth Basin now that the WA Government has given four shale and tight gas proof-of-concept proposals the all-clear. The companies that stand to benefit from this decision are AWE Ltd, Norwest Energy and Latent Petroleum.

WA Environment Minister Bill Marmion rejected an appeal from the Conservation Council of Western Australia (CCWA) which claimed that 'fraccing' in coal and shale deposits has caused serious contamination and even earthquakes elsewhere.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) found that proposals for small scale activities involving fraccing to test the potential for commercial flows of gas – an essential part of extracting gas from low-porosity rocks – in WA's midwest were unlikely to have a significant impact on the environment and should be assessed and managed by the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP). MORE