�Fracking Not Hazardous� � Experts
Correspondent | Monday March 24, 2014 17:02
Experts from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and the United States discussed issues of natural gas from the time of exploration until pricing last week.
Hydraulic fracturing is the use of fluid and other material to create small fractures in order to stimulate production from new and existing oil and gas wells.
This creates a path that increases the rate at which fluids can be produced from reservoir formations.
The issue that has been raging is that fracking is hazardous. Azra Tutuncu, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines said that hydraulic fracturing is not a bad form of drilling natural gas. Contrary to reports, it does not contaminate ground water, he said.
One of the two companies in Botswana exploring Coal Bed Methane (CBM), Kalahari Energy Botswana (KEB), said that they do fracking. KEB technical consultant, Mokwaledi Ntsimanyana confirmed that they do hydraulic fracturing.
“Issues arising from the public are that there will be loss of indigenous use of the land resource, pollution of surface waters and damage to ecosystems through the disposal of CBM water,” Mokwaledi said.
He said he was pleased Tutuncu clarified the point that hydraulic fracturing does not contaminate underground water as there were some YouTube videos claiming that fracking is hazardous.
He went on to say that they communicate with the community through Kgotla meetings. They do press briefings and often talk to landboards.
Domingo Villaronga economic and commercial officer at the US Embassy, said he was delighted Botswana allowed them to come and share with them the process of unconventional gas and its challenges.
“One of the most important lessons we have learnt is the need to establish dialogue between government, industry and the community.
This is particularly the case when it comes to environmental protection and community engagement,” Villaronga said.
Other issues discussed at the workshop were establishing an attractive fiscal regime. Mohamed Badissy, attorney advisor on Commercial Law Development Programme (CLDP), the Department of Commerce’s foreign technical assistance arm and their mission, is to improve the legal environment for doing business in developing and transitional countries around the globe.
“Energy issues often play a central role in our trade and investment development work as either a primary economic catalyst or barrier to economic growth.
The department of commerce has provided over 20 years of technical assistance in energy law, to develop and regulate regimes supportive to foreign direct investment in energy production and distribution,” said Badissy.
Elijah Sichone, chief market analyst of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), spoke on commercial structures and pricing of gas within the SAPP, which is comprised of 12 member countries.
Sichone said that their mandate is to facilitate the development of a competitive electricity market in the Southern African region.
He added that SAPP gives the end user a choice of electricity supply and ensures that southern Africa is the region of choice for investment by energy intensive users.
The workshop was held at the Gaborone International Conventional Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday and was attended by experts on unconventional gas and regulatory bodies. Its objective was to share ideas with countries involved in developing unconventional gas.