In the name of human and environmental safety, Canada’s natural gas producers have announced support for the recent findings and recommendations from the BC Oil and Gas Commission's investigation into seismic activity from hydraulic fracking.
From 2009 to 2011, the investigation delved into tremor monitoring, data collection, and operator assessments and protocols in British Columbia’s (B.C.’s) Horn River Basin, Canada’s largest shale gas field.
Experts estimate there are 250 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in northeast B.C., 10 to 20 per cent of which could be recoverable.
"Continuing our record of no harm to people or structures is paramount, as is supporting geoscience that can assure landowners and the public hydraulic fracturing can and will continue safely,” said Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers' President, Dave Collyer, in a statement to media August 30, 2012.
Hydraulic fracturing is a process that injects water and other fluids at high pressure significantly below the earth's surface to crack shale rocks and produce natural gas.
More than 8,000 high-volume hydraulic fracturing completions have been performed in B.C., according to the report Investigation of Observed Seismicity in the Horn River Basin, BC Oil and Gas Commission - August 2012.
The commission found a total of 272 seismic events were "caused by fluid injection during hydraulic fracturing in proximity to pre-existing faults", and noted, "none of the events caused any injury, property damage or posed any risk to public safety or the environment."
Throughout 2012, Canada's natural gas industry has announced guiding principles and practices for hydraulic fracturing. Additional industry guidelines establishing monitoring protocols and practices to mitigate induced seismicity may be finalized by natural gas production companies by the end of September 2012.
Ontario Shale Deal
A consortium of energy firms has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to develop a pipeline that will send shale gas to Ontario and the U.S. midwest.
Enbridge Inc., DTE Energy and Spectra Energy Corp. plan to jointly develop the NEXUS Gas Transmission (NGT) system, a pipeline that will send Ohio Utica shale gas to markets in Ontario, as well as Ohio and Michigan.
According to the firms, the proposed project will originate in northeastern Ohio. The large-diameter pipe spans approximately 402 km, and is capable of moving one-billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
------This article originally appeared on ecolog.com, September 7, 2012------