North Coast Gas Firm Hints at Future Fracking

Metgasco says it may use fracking to exploit New South Wales north coast coal seam gas deposits in the future.
The company has an exploration licence covering more than 455,000 hectares of the Clarence-Moreton Basin.
It also has plans to build a pipeline along the Lions Way to link with markets in south-east Queensland.
Metgasco’s chief executive, Peter Henderson, says at this stage there is no need to use the controversial fracking process.
“And while we’re taking gas from the upper coal seam, the Richmond coal seam, we don’t intend to do so,” he said.
“We find the better way of getting the gas out is to drill horizontal wells.
“However, there are deeper coal seams which we would like to develop in the future and at the moment it would be unwise to discount the possibility of wanting to use fracking in those coal seams.
“I need to say that fracking is something which has been used for 60 years widely around the world, including in Australia.
“It’s something that can be managed safely and a lot of the information that’s going round at the moment is not sound.”
Meanwhile, the company says there is nothing sinister about its employment of a senior figure from the state’s Liberal Party.
Richard Shields was the deputy director of the NSW Liberals but will next week start a job as Metgasco’s manager of external relations.
Mr Henderson says the appointment was made to improve communications.
“We were looking primarily at the skills in communicating and that’s something which the person in that job needs to have,” he said.
“So there’s communication with the general public, there’s also knowledge about how the machinery of government works, whether it’s a Labor, Liberal or Green party that’s in power at the time.”
However, Boudicca Cerese, from the Kyogle Group Against Gas, says she is concerned about the appointment.
“Well it appears from where we stand that it’s Metgasco attempting to influence the political process through the appointment of someone who has very close ties with the Coalition State Government and this is really worrying for us because we really see that Metgasco needs to be looking at engaging properly with the community,” she said.

16 August 11