New website addresses gas from shale concerns
OGP has launched a new website on which member companies can disclose the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing, the process used to extract gas from shale. The website is part of a wider effort to address public concerns about the consequences of shale gas operations, Conoco-Phillips’ Malcolm Rice-Jones presented the new website during a round-table on shale gas and its impact on water at the European Parliament June 18.
‘We are very keen to facilitate the fact-based debate on shale gas,’ Malcolm said at the event. ‘Our primary focus is to make the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing available to the public, and also to provide more information on shale gas operations,’ he explained.
The new website, called Natural Gas from Shale Fluid and Additive Component Transparency Service, or NGS FACTS, (www.ngsfacts.org), is open to any internet user and offers updated information for exploratory wells being operated in the European Economic Area by the participating organisations.
With NGS FACTS, the industry wants to show that shale gas extraction relies on a perfectly safe, well-known and manageable technology.
Satellite imaging helps locate the wells on a map, and with just a click anyone can access a fact sheet containing all the relevant data about the water, sand and chemicals used in the specific wells for the purpose of hydraulic fracturing.
Six wells are listed at the moment, but the online information will be updated regularly with the website’s coverage expanding with exploration activity.
