Chevron blasts shale gas 'misinformation campaign'

Chevron's Derek Magness told MEPs at the Industry Research and Energy Committee of the European Parliament that exploration of shale gas in Europe was being done in a “responsible manner” and that his company currently has five licences for drilling in Poland.

France and Switzerland have banned the “fracking” method of extracting shale gas from rock on environmental grounds, but Poland is pushing ahead with the drilling in the belief that tapping into the new resource will further help wean itself off its reliance on Russian energy supplies.

Polish Chief National Geologist Piotr Wozniak told the committee in the European Parliament that Poland had issued 109 licences for the exploration of shale gas and 18 companies were involved in test drilling.

Wozniak estimates that Poland is sitting on shale reserves of between 346 to 768 billion cubic metres (bcm), significantly less than was originally thought.

Last week, an environmental group, Food and water Europe, criticised a draft report by Polish MEP Boguslaw Sonik (EPP) on the environmental impact of shale gas extraction.

The group said that the report, which claimed that any environmental damage could be offset by “preventative measures” showed a “clear bias against Russia” and used “cold War rhetoric” to justify shale gas drilling and “fracking”.

"Mr Sonik has resorted to the use of Cold War rhetoric, accusing Russia’s Gazprom of spreading fears about shale gas," Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Europe, said in a statement.

"Mr Sonik’s report begins under the assumption that shale gas is a 'very important new source of supply', conveniently dropping the key word 'potential' from this direct quote out of the Commission’s 2050 Energy Roadmap,” he added. (pg)

source: TVP. agencies