Watch this space, folks. There may be a giant global battle brewing. The dollars at stake in the global competition for energy means that giant oil companies are quite prepared to square off against governments.
There is now a network of pipes crisscrossing eastern and western Europe as countries and companies jostle to connect gas reserves and markets.
This is relevant for Australians because our reserves are emerging as the new LNG powerhouse, ranking second in size, behind Qatar. Geographically we are well positioned to supply Asia. For more on that read Dan Yergin’s book, The Quest.
The book also explains the reasons for the apparently frantic scramble for exploration licenses. And, for those interested, Chapter 16 describes the repeated attempts to work out a way to extract gas from rock (fraccing) and the final breakthrough in 1998, and then the development of horizontal drilling. The two combined as recently as 2003 – hence current and very recent the “Shale Gale” as Yergin calls it.
The French are cautious and suspicious that these two US discoveries are not as safe as they are cracked up to be.
Total to challenge French government decision on shale gas
French oil and gas giant Total plans to challenge the French government’s decision to cancel its exploration permit for a shale gas field in Montelimar, in the south of France, reported Les Echos Monday.
“We respected the law and we do not understand why this permit was withdrawn on legal grounds,” said Total chief executive, Christophe de Margerie, speaking to Les Echos.
In October the French government canceled exploration permits on shale-gas fields after it said Total maintained its intention to drill the potential fields using hydraulic fracturing, a controversial technique that was banned in the country earlier this year.
France’s energy minister, Eric Besson, and environmental minister, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, said the permit, which represents all of the country’s potential shale-gas fields, had been canceled after the company submitted a mandatory report about its drilling technique in which it maintained its plans to use hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
Total, however, insisted it had committed to not using any technique that is banned by law.
The French government banned fracking in May over concerns about the technique’s impact on the environment, after environmental activists protested about the exploration and possible developments of the fields, fearing chemicals used in the process could pollute groundwater.
However, a report issued in April following a government request said French shale oil and gas fields are potentially some of the most promising in Europe and banning exploration before reserves are assessed could be detrimental to France’s economy and labor market.
Dow Jones Newswires
