By Denise Marray
Gulf Times Correspondent
Bangkok

The UK government’s plan to fast-track shale gas planning applications through a new, dedicated planning process has brought into sharp relief the need for reliable data to inform the decision-making processes with regard to the granting or refusing of permits.
With 37 onshore blocks from the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round soon to be offered to companies, and a second group of 132 further blocks to be announced later this year, there is clearly a keen government and industry interest in assessing the potential of this unconventional hydrocarbon.
Inevitably, as with any new industry, there are concerns about the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing.
Against this back drop, it is reassuring to know that an impartial body with a dedication to pure science is creating a baseline of environmental information to ensure that all interested parties, including the general public, can have access to hard facts when it comes to weighing the pros and cons of ‘fracking’.
Gulf Times spoke to Professor Robert Ward, director of Science of the British Geological Survey (BGS), to learn more about the important work being done in environmental baseline monitoring.
BGS, along with partners from Public Health England (PHE) and the universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Loughborough, Liverpool, Manchester and York, has initiated an independent environmental baseline monitoring programme in the Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire. This is the area where Third Energy UK Gas Limited has submitted a planning application to hydraulically fracture one of their wells. It is also focusing its research on Lancashire where planning applications have been submitted by Cuadrilla for the development of shale gas.
When the data is compiled and logged it will be possible to more accurately assess ‘before and after’ impacts of fracking. As Ward put it: “We are monitoring and characterising the environment before activities related to shale gas/oil exploration happens.”
Detailed data will be collected on water quality (groundwater and surface water), seismicity, ground motion, air quality (including radon), and soil gas.
Ward noted that in the US the absence of this type of research and detailed data collection prior to its shale gas industry becoming established made the debate about its merits and downsides long on speculation and short on facts.
“One of the things we saw in the US, where shale gas production is well established, was that they hadn’t collected environmental data before the activity started.
“So the accusations of contamination of water that were emerging were difficult to substantiate because there was no pre-existing preoperational industrial data,” he said.
He noted that in the UK there is a strong regulatory framework and a good record on industrial safety. There is also a requirement to adhere to EU directives.
Within the EU, many countries are adopting a cautious approach to the shale gas industry. France has a ban; Ireland and Northern Ireland have a two year moratorium while undertaking joint research to establish a baseline environmental assessment; Germany is drafting a new law whereby commercial fracking for shale gas and coal bed methane would be banned at levels below 3,000 metres, but allowed for exploration purposes at shallower levels, subject to the assessment of the expert panel.
Regarding the situation in the UK, Ward explained: “At the moment there isn’t any exploratory drilling because the planning applications are within the system. Cuadrilla was rejected by the county council planning committee in Lancashire but Cuadrilla appealed that decision and are awaiting that appeal to be heard.”
Ward pointed out that the UK has a good safety record in drilling for conventional hydrocarbons. “In the UK a lot of wells have been drilled for conventional hydrocarbons for oil and gas. There have been very few problems. There are in excess of 2,000 exploratory or production oil and gas wells drilled in the UK onshore. Shale gas is different as it involves tapping unconventional hydrocarbons through hydraulic fracturing. There is not a lot of experience of doing that in the UK and as with any drilling there are risks associated with it — just like many other industries. It’s important that we understand what the risks are and that they are managed effectively,” he said.
Ward said that the BGS team’s findings will be based on pure science with no outside influence. “We are an independent research organisation; our role is to undertake research and scientific study to collect information which will be made available to inform the decision making process. We are impartial and not influenced by government. We are a national research institute but the funding we get from government is provided by the Natural Environment Research Council and we allocate that funding to topics we consider to be strategically important for the nation and to underpin what we call public national good science. We would not allow outside influence,” he said.
Currently, Qatar plays an important role in the UK’s energy provision. The South Hook LNG Terminal has the ability to regasify around 20% of the UK’s natural gas requirements. The South Hook LNG Terminal is a strategically significant link in the world’s first fully integrated Supply Chain that stretches from the gas fields off the north east coast of Qatar to the deep waterway of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, West Wales.
According the latest data in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES), in 2014 Qatar accounted for 92% of LNG imports.
DUKES states that UK Imports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) increased to 124 TWh in 2014, driven by increasing global supply and weaker than expected demand in Asia. Pipeline imports were down by 19% in 2014, driven primarily by decreased imports from Belgium and Norway in 2014. These decreases were primarily due to a reduction in demand for natural gas within the UK during 2014.
The UK imports natural gas by pipeline from Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands and LNG by ship. The UK has been a net importer of gas since 2004, with net imports of gas in 2014 accounting for 45% of supply. The UK imported 477 TWh in 2014. In 2009 two new LNG terminals at Milford Haven (Dragon and South Hook) opened and contributed to the 33% increase in LNG imports between 2010 and 2011.