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Quebec points to shale gas ban
Gary Park For Petroleum News
Within 24 hours of being appointed, Quebec’s new Natural Resources Minister Martine Ouellet told reporters she does not believe natural gas can ever be safely extracted from shale rock using fracturing methods.
She has pledged to impose a complete moratorium on the industry until a new and more comprehensive assessment of the industry is completed by her government’s environmental assessment bureau.
Quebec, under the Liberal government of Premier Jean Charest that was defeated in September by the separatist Parti Quebecois, had already stopped shale gas exploration to conduct more studies on the environmental risks. Including fears that drinking water could be contaminated.
The Parti Quebecois is committed to an independent Quebec, although two previous referendums seeking approval for separation have been defeated.
Analysts and industry leaders view Quebec’s trillions of cubic feet of shale gas resources as an economic game changer for the province.
But Ouellet wasted no time declaring that she does not “foresee a day when there will be technology that will allow safe exploitation” of shale gas.
Current suspension Andre Boisclair, a consultant for Questerre Energy, which holds a major shale gas land position in Quebec, said the call for a moratorium doesn’t have much impact on the industry, given the current suspension of existing or planned operations.
The environmental review is not expected to wrap up until late 2013.
The bigger concern is Ouellet’s indication that she doesn’t believe shale gas exploitation can ever be safe “is obviously totally contrary to the facts,” Boisclair said.
He said 30 percent of the gas Quebec currently imports from Western Canada is derived from unconventional extraction methods.
Boisclair said it is “inappropriate for a (cabinet minister) who intends to do a public consultation on shale gas to have already drawn her own conclusions on the file.”
Michael Binnion, president of Questerre, which has invested about C$200 million with its partner Talisman Energy in shale gas exploration in Quebec, said Ouellet’s position is “frustrating.”
He said Questerre has made every effort to cooperate with Quebec’s two previous environmental assessments.
Binnion said that preventing shale gas development in the province would only benefit producers in Western Canada and the United States, who meet Quebec’s current gas needs.
Talisman remains hopeful that the new government will continue the review process and develop a legislative framework that would permit safe and responsible shale gas development, a spokeswoman said.
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