Questions for the Minister

Editorial Department • Published 16 Feb 2012 13:00 0 Comments

Open letter to Arlene Foster - Minister responsible for Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

I acknowledge that the Minister must look at Shale Gas as a possible energy supply source, however I believe she and her department need to be more sceptical of any figures coming from the Shale Gas industry.

The vast gas reserves quoted by Shale Gas companies must be questioned in light of some recent findings. The largest Shale deposit in US - the Marcellus Shale - has been downgraded by 80 percent by the US Geological Survey - so the US can no longer claim 100 years of gas reserves.

Shale Gas companies exaggerate their employment figures too. Figures submitted by the Perryman group acting for shale gas industry in N. Texas in 2008, and by Chesapeake in 2010 for the Fort Worth area in Texas, were over optimistic by at least a factor of two when referenced to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. An independent Pennsylvania State University study has shown that the economic activity in Shale gas is at best 50 percent of that reported by industry sponsored studies,( ie 50% less tax revenue and 50 per cent less employment). Its report also stated that only 18 per cent of districts where shale gas drilling was in progress had seen any increase

in tax revenues while 26% reported a significant increase in costs (ie Road maintenance and environmental cleanup) due to shale gas

exploration.

On this basis, Tamboran's direct jobs figure is questionable, while their indirect jobs figure is astonishing given the Scottish governments recommended multiplier calculation for the oil and gas industry would mean 600 indirect jobs, rather than the 2400 that

Tamboran claim.

Even if one has great reserves, it doesn't mean the gas can be extracted. Poland has reportedly 322 years of shale gas reserves, and

yet Exonn Mobil recently reported its two fracking test wells were not producing gas economically, following similar results from 3Legs

Resources and BNK Petroleum.

The existing Wells in Fermanagh were fracked by Evergreen but with resultant uneconomic gas flow. The Railroad Commission papers in Texas indicate only 6 per cent of shale gas wells in the Barnett Shale are economically viable, while a spokesman for the US. Securities and Exchange Commission (Which deals with financial reporting and auditing regulation for companies in the US) stated that on average 20 percent of shale gas wells carry a shale gas project.

On that analysis Tamboran will drill between 800 and 940 dud wells across N. Leitrim and W. Fermanagh. Tamboran would have us believe

prospecting is an exact science, but the Shale gas figures worldwide, and the history of gas exploration in the area, say otherwise. Is the minister prepared to risk Tamboran's industrialisation of the countryside, in the hope that the company will find wells that are

productive?

We all bear the risk, while Tamboran will be able to write off the financial cost of those non-economic wells. Fermanagh people will have to live with, and pay for the lasting environmental destruction not to mention the loss of green credentials for Tourism and Agriculture, in addition to the health concerns this project would bring should Tamboran proceed.

Yours faithfully,

Tom White

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This letter appeared in Impartial Reporter 16 Feb 12

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