Technologies
Q. How can you be so sure you’ll find oil or gas?
A. We hold exploration licenses in proven oil and gas basins in Europe. We have reprocessed extensive heritage seismic surveys and have undertaken our own detailed seismic surveys to map prospective hydrocarbon accumulations deep below the surface. Seismic surveys are a common and extensively used method employing low-level seismic waves, like sonar, to bounce off rock formations deep underground, in order to map out the area’s structural geology.
Q. What happens if you don’t find oil or gas?
A. In the absence of hydrocarbons, we would remove all equipment from the site, cut the steel casings around 2 metres below ground level, and weld a steel plate over the remaining casing stub. The sub-soil and topsoil would then be taken from the storage bunds and re-laid over the ground. To all intents and purposes the site will be restored to its original condition.
Q. What happens if you find oil or gas?
A. If the presence of hydrocarbons is confirmed then a production casing, similar to the surface and intermediate casing installed during the drilling process, is cemented in place right to the base of the well. Within the well, production pipework, controls and safety barriers are installed and on the surface, a valve block (known as a “christmas tree”) caps the well. In some cases, if the necessary production pipework and controls are temporarily unavailable, the well is suspended with plugs and a temporary well head at surface level to provide the seal. All this provides the necessary integrity for the well to ensure its safety and prevent any escape of hydrocarbons. The drilling rig is then disassembled and moved out of the site.
Q. I’ve heard a lot about ‘fracing’. What is this?
A. Fracing involves pumping fluid, more than 99% composed of water and sand, under high pressure to open up millimetre sized gaps or cracks in shale rock formations typically found at depths greater than 5,000 feet. The cracks are held open by the particles of sand (as a ‘proppant’) contained in the fluid. Fracing increases the number of pathways a well bore has to the surrounding rock formation and thereby provides numerous channels through which natural gas or oil can flow into the well.
Q. In the US, and illustrated in the Gasland film, there have been many problems with shale gas drilling. How can I be sure these problems will not be replicated with your operations?
A. Unfortunately, Gasland makes for good entertainment but is very light on facts. As with all hydrocarbon exploration programmes, there are potential health, safety and environmental risks that need to be addressed. However, these can be comprehensively militated against through good well design, the application of modern technology, attention to detail with regards to processes and controls and effective regulation. Our values dictate that we will only operate to the highest levels of industry best practice and it is not in our long term interests to do otherwise.