After revolutionizing the American energy market, shale gas extraction is now coveted around the world … Despite the operating method being environmentally very risky.
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In North Texas, Barnett Shales’ deposit sparked a new gold rush. Every month billions of m3 of gas are extracted from the deep layers of shale rock under the city of Fort Worth. Torrents of gas removed by thousands of trucks. An activity which, when added to discharges from refineries, causes more pollution than any car traffic in this city of 725,000 inhabitants, according to a report by Professor Al Armendariz in January 2009, the new director of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency of Environmental U.S.). Some of the inhabitants of Fort Worth have found this valuable gas, coming out of their taps. According to an independent analysis conducted by the American documentary filmmaker Josh Fox, their water contains traces of the chemicals injected into the wells. Newcomer to this energy Eldorado, Total acquired in early 2010, 25% of Chesapeake, the largest operator of the Barnett Shale, for $600 million and plans to invest a further $1 billion more in new wells. Not to mention the financial commitments that the oil group will provide to France.
Since early spring the French oil giant and Texan Schuepbach have been free to explore 9672 km ² in the south of France, a field of exploration the size of the Gironde. Signed by Jean-Louis Borloo, three exclusive licenses of research (Montelimar Permit; Nant Permit [FR], Villeneuve de Berg Permit) form a huge V from, Montelimar in the North to Montpellier, rising up in the west along the natural park of the Cevennes. In order to obtain two of the three licenses, the American have had to reassure the French authorities by allying themelves with GDF: “If there is a problem, they are right there,” said Charles Lamiral, a geologist at the Directorate General for Energy and Climate Change (Department of Ecology) [FR] and in charge of the case, pointing to the tower of the French gas company from his office in the Arche at La Defense. Still beginners at extracting shale gas, the French groups can not manage without American partners, who alone have mastered the technique of extracting these new resources.
Formally, life was easy for the gas companies: drilling vertical for a few hundred meters to a pocket, and the gas surfaced of its own accord. With the huge increase in demand, these so-called conventional gases are increasingly difficult to find. This scarcity has driven the companies to dig ever further and ever deeper… to more than 2000 meters to recover micropockets of gas trapped amongst layers of sheet rock. However, these new deposits are a significant windfall, found in the underground throughout the world as reported by the Italian energy giant E. ON: thousands of billions of cubic meters of gas in Europe, seven times more in North America and even more in Asia and Australia… Enough to burn for a few decades without the need for renewable energy. All thanks to the revolutionary technique of hydraulic fracturing to developed by the Texan giant, Halliburton. A brutal but effective process.
At a depth of 2500m, there is a small earthquake: in order to form the micropockets into a single pocket of gas, an explosive is detonated in order to create gaps. They were then fractured using a mixture of water, sand and chemicals propelled at very high pressure (600 bar), which brings the gas to the surface with a some of this “fracturing fluids”. Each of these “fracks” requires 7 to 15 000 cubic meters of water (7-15 million litres), a well may be fractured up to 14 times.
Depending on the layer of shale, a well can produce access to very variable amounts of gas, said Aurelius Parriaux, a doctor of geological engineering at the Polytechnic University of Lausanne. To be sure of making a profit on field requires a high density of drilling.
In Garfield County (Colorado), the desert bristles with shale gas wells every 200 meters.
Each white point on the map is a shale gas well
Each “frack“, requires two hundred return trips of the lorries trucks needed to transport construction materials, water and then the gas. A good way to turn any national road into a highway. Not to mention the CO2 emissions from refineries, the noise generated by the site and the transformation of the landscape.
Far from the stated aims of the “Grenelle de l’environnement”, hydraulic fracturing goes against numerous commitments made by the Minister of Ecology, Jean-Louis Borloo, who signed the research licenses. Among the aims of the Grenelle, is to improve the management of greenhouse gas emissions by reducing of road traffic, protecting sources of drinking water and sensitive ecosystems areas.
If the extraction was to begin within the boundaries defined by the licenses, it would be more than one paragraph of the Grenelle de l’environnement that would be trampled under foot. To have chosen these regions, already suffering from endemic drought for several years, (including Drome and Ardeche), but who will be expected to mobilize large quantities of water scarcely satisfies the principle of preserving water resources set forth in Article 27 of the Grenelle:
The second aim here is to ensure a sustainable supply of good quality water to satisfy the basic needs of inhabitants. On that score, the State shall promote actions aiming to limit the collection and consumption of water. By relying on the appropriate agents, the State contributes to the diffusion of scientific knowledge and techniques leading to better control of the collection and ultimate consumption of water by all domestic, agricultural, industrial and energy production consumers.
The risk is clearly identified as we were told by the Department of Ecology: “The problem of water supply needed for the exploitation of shale gas will arise at some time or another.”
In the document handed to the authorities, Total and Schuepbach promised to take all precautions necessary to minimize the impact of research on shale gas on the environment. Despite cementing the wells, sloughs with plastic films and other safety measures installed to prevent contamination, the impact statement specify the need for a prior hydrogeological study, since the drilling could cross through the groundwater. The risk, as experienced by the riverside residents of Barnett Shale in Texas, is the contamination of underground water by the pollutants in the fracturing fluid. Séverin Pistre hydrogeology researcher at the HydroSciences laboratory in Montpellier, emphasises the fragility of the springs in the region:
there are many problems relating to the protection of water catchment areas because of the karstiques aquifers may react very violently to pollutants. Depending on where the fluid enters the groundwater, its velocity can range from 1 to 1000. In some cases, it can travel hundreds of meters per day under ground.
But Total has forseen everything: in case of any nuisance, the impact notice gives the residents “the possibility of setting up a preliminary enquiry into the cultural heritage under the patronage of Total” Honor is saved!
However, the priority remains to invest: in order to obtain their permits, Total [FR] is committed to spend 37.8 million euros over five years for its exploration area. Schuepbach meanwhile, has promised to invest over three years, 1,722,750 euros for the 4414 km ² Nant permit and 39,933,700 for the 931 km ² Villeneuve de Berg Permit, or € 14,319 per km ² per annum.
The investment depends on the degree of certainty that the oil companies have of finding deposits of gas, says Charles Lamiral. In Ardèche, old boreholes confirm that there are deep reserves which we have been unable to exploit previously. There may even be petrol.
Devon Energy, has not hesitated to buy up the French subsidiary of the group (having first obtained the approval of the Department of Ecology). Rumor has it that Chesapeake, based in Oklahoma City, become the new technical partner of French oil. The same company in which Total took a 25% share last January.
Even though none of the players will admit their intention of actual extract, the investments put in place suggest a long-term strategy.>
For the time being, we are in a phase of data analysis by our geologists, says Total. If the results of the exploration phase of five years are positive, it generally takes another four years to implement the extraction of hydrocarbons. However, for shale gas, drilling wells can be very rapid and far reaching.
The CEO of Total, Christophe de Margerie has made no secret that when he took up the Texan deposits that it “will allow Total to develop its expertise in unconventional hydrocarbons to pursue other opportunities around the world.”
If giants like Exxon Mobil do not hesitate to buy up the regional operator of Marcellus Shale, for $41 billion the market remains today in a speculative phase.
The situation in the shale gas today is quite similar to that of the Internet bubble: Currently, natural gas sells for around $4 per gigajoule [energy equivalent to 1/6 of a barrel of oil, NdR], but costs roughly $6 a gigajoule to produce,” says Normand Mousseau, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Computational Physics of complex materials, and author of the book “The Shale Gas Revolution“.
Small companies in Texas and Alberta are positioning themselves to be bought out by major players in the sector: oil is increasingly difficult to find and the cost of extracting gas weighs more heavily in the accounts. More than the balance sheets of a handful of oil magnates, it is perhaps the energy independence of many countries which is at stake. These non-conventional deposits are challenging the supremacy of Russia and gas from the Gulf States and could redefine the map of world hydrocarbons. The risk of it causing environmental damage to people, far exceeds the energy benefits from the exploitation of shale gas.<
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Google Map screenshot, oil wells in Garfield County, Colorado