Kgalagadi and the threat of fracking

[Sprocky]

By: Reuters
21st November 2013

GABORONE – Botswana said it had granted two companies permission to explore for underground gas in the Kalahari national park, raising concerns about the environmental impact on the world's second-largest game reserve.

The government of the desert-covered southern African country also denied charges from a governance group that it was secretly allowing the controversial process of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing.

Gaborone issued prospecting licences for coal bed methane within the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to Australia's Tlou Energy and to African Coal and Gas Corp, the environment and mineral ministries said in a joint statement.

Coal bed methane is natural gas extracted from coal beds.

"While concessions for energy prospecting have indeed been granted over wide areas of the country, there are currently no mining licences for gas extraction ... And thus no commercial production involving so-called fracking," the ministries said.

Fracking is a technique used to extract underground shale gas by digging deep wells and pumping in large amounts of water mixed with chemicals under high pressure to crack the rock.

Critics of the process say it could contaminate water sources.

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, a governance group, has said Botswana's government has been quietly pushing ahead with plans to produce natural gas and that drilling and fracking are already under way.

Edited by: Reuters

[Mel]

Never been there, but have always wanted to go there one day and just the thought of this happening now
in what I believe to be a delicate environment just makes me sick.

[Richprins]

Shouldn't be allowed in National Parks!

[nan]

what ??? it's a joke ... or

[Sprocky]

2013-11-29 07:32

Cape Town - East Africa's oil rush is spreading into parks and protected areas, prompting companies to develop new ways to explore for hydrocarbons without disturbing wildlife and natural treasures such as rare fossils.

From Uganda, where France's Total is trying new and less intrusive methods of seismic testing in a national park, to Madagascar, where operations are under way next to a Unesco site, the industry is working in locations where damage would trigger public outcries.

"We can't take anything for granted. We are abutting next to a Unesco National Park," said Stewart Ahmed, chief executive officer of Madagascar Oil, which plans the first commercial crude oil production in the impoverished Indian Ocean island state.

"We are going to be under scrutiny and our pipelines, for example, will have to skirt around those kinds of areas," he said on the sidelines of an Africa oil conference organised by Global Pacific & Partners.

When an area is declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco -the cultural and scientific arm of the United Nations - it immediately comes under close observation by conservationists.

Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, next to Madagascar Oil's operations in a rugged and remote region of the country's west, is known for towering limestone pinnacles and is home to rare wildlife such as the red-fronted brown lemurs.

"World Heritage Sites are of particular concern. Many companies are committed to not developing in World Heritage Sites and conservation groups are opposed to developments in such areas," said Ray Victurine of the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

"So there is a lot of scrutiny with regard to developments there," he said.

Seismic and human evolution

In Uganda, where Total is exploring in Murchison Falls National Park, home to elephants, lions and a rare giraffe sub-species, the company is using seismic technology which the industry says is less disruptive than traditional methods for pinpointing oil reserves.

Typically, seismic tests involve clearing bush in a straight line and blasting explosives. Echo patterns are then analysed to detect oil pockets beneath the surface.

Total has said that in Murchison it was using "one of the latest cableless technologies available in the industry".

Because cables will not be used to record the seismic signals, the technology, provided by Texas-based FairfieldNodal, does not require the removal of vegetation along the grid line.

In northern Kenya, Africa-focused producer Tullow Oil is making seismic adjustments as it works in a region renowned for hominid fossils that shed light on humanity's evolutionary past.

Blasting the "missing link" by mistake would not sit well in scientific circles.

"We have palaeontologists working on our teams in Kenya," said Paul McDade, Tullow's chief operating officer.

Because of advances in technology, seismic lines no longer have to be perfectly straight as computing can compensate for any bends or detours.

"You used to just shoot a straight seismic line. What we do now is send a party out ahead and if they find anything of interest we cordon it off and run the seismic line around it and then carry on," McDade told Reuters.

Seismic technology is becoming less intrusive in other ways as well.

Calgary-based Polaris Seismic International has developed seismic equipment employing an "accelerated drop" system, eliminating the need for blasting. It has been used in villages and wildlife areas in Tanzania.

Its system, the Explorer 860, thumps the earth with a hydraulically driven hammer. The energy goes straight down so wildlife and people nearby are not disturbed. Geological data is collected by geophones set up on the surface 6km on either side.


- Reuters

[mouseinthehouse]

Oh they're doing it all wrong - just come to Australia and learn from our Dear Leader and his best mates Gina and Clive et al. Australia is 'open for business' and nothing as trivial as a World Heritage Listing is going to get in the way of $$$$$$ -even our Great Barrier Reef -it's all up for grabs.

[Sprocky]

2013-11-29 22:08

Johannesburg - The discovery of shale gas in the Karoo creates possibilities for growth and economic development in the Northern Cape, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday.

"We are extremely excited about the prospect, because as government we consider hydraulic fracturing for shale gas a 'game-change' opportunity for the Karoo region and for our economy at large," he said at the launch of the Kalagadi Manganese company's Stanley Nkosi sinter mine.

"We must explore this potential," Zuma said.

He said the government was aware of concerns raised about hydraulic fracturing, including the issues of its affect on the province's water and environment.

"The mineral resources minister [Susan Shabangu] will therefore be coming back to this area early next year to consult with communities, and to hear what the people have to say, before any further decisions are taken by government on this matter."

Fracking is the process of fracturing rock by pumping pressurised liquid deep into the ground to extract natural gas trapped in shale layers.

A year ago, Cabinet agreed to lift a moratorium on applications to explore for shale gas in the Karoo using fracking.

The decision was based on recommendations contained in a report on shale gas exploration prepared by a technical task team, Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane said last September.

Shale gas exploration

In August, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said government could authorise shale gas exploration before next year's elections.

At the time, the Alliance Against Fracking in SA said it believed the country's laws were "inadequate to control an industry with a severely tarnished reputation and the process of fracking".

Treasure Karoo Action Group chair Jonathan Deal added that the government had largely relied on research commissioned by the mineral resources department to investigate the potential consequences of fracking.

"... In our considered view [this research] is singularly inadequate, considering the multi-disciplinary nature of mining activity," he said.

The sinter mine, which is based in the town Hotazel, is named after Stanley Nkosi and Thembeka Moedi, from Batlharos, Kuruman.

"They are the ones who were part of the team that cultivated the ground on which this imposing infrastructure stands. We ought to pay homage to such selfless citizens of our country. Indeed, they make South Africa a great place to live in," Zuma said.

He said the two died before the mine was completed.

Zuma said R6.5bn of capital had been injected into the province in the past four years, with at least 3000 direct jobs created.

"Also, the project has had an impressive safety record with more than 10 million man-hours without a fatality. This deserves to be emulated," he said.

- SAPA

[Sprocky]

SA suspends offshore oil, gas exploration
2013-12-20 06:00

Port Elizabeth - South Africa has suspended oil and gas exploration off the east coast following a complaint over the impact of underwater sound pollution on sea life, an official said on Thursday.

The government-run Petroleum Agency of South Africa (Pasa) halted seismic surveys along a pristine stretch of coast pending discussions between international oil firms and an environmentalist who blew the whistle on the out-of-season tests.

"The agency has deemed it imperative to suspend seismic operations until the process of consultation is completed, and a report submitted to the agency this week," spokesperson Althea Adonis told AFP.

Companies compile a three-dimensional map of the seabed by bouncing sound waves off undersea rock formations to detect deposits.

Local environmental consultant Paul Martin complained to Pasa this week over non-compliance with an environmental management programme.

The plan allows for the survey from January to mid-March every year, but explorers had already started in December, which disrupted the seasonal migration of humpback whales, said Martin.

"This is the first stage of oil exploration off the coast and they go and stuff up the first stage. They just ride roughshod over what was agreed," he told AFP.

"We all want sustainable development, but if at stage one those involved aren't going to comply with what is in their authorisation, what trust do we have in them?"

Five international companies, among them Anglo-Dutch Shell and London-based NewAge African Global Energy, have licences for seismic surveys along the east coast from Jeffreys Bay to the Wild Coast.

- AFP

[Duke]

Kalagaid and thethreat of fracking

President Jacob Zuma spoke about the dramatic and positive growth of the tourism industry in his 2014 State of the Nation Address, which saw 3 million foreign visitors in 1993 jump to 13 million foreign visitors in 2012.

And while many felt his speech had very little vision for the future - it was in the context of tourism and the environment where Zuma elaborated on how the state plans to "grow the industry, given its potential for job creation".

Zuma not only confirmed the state's plan to explore other sources of energy, in line with the Integrated Resource Plan for Energy, he also called fracking a game changer for the Karoo region and the South African economy.

"Having evaluated the risks and opportunities, the final regulations will be released soon and will be followed by the processing and granting of licenses," Zuma said.

Anybody who has been following the issue in the Karoo or has watched Gas Land knows what an alarming step this is.

A Year in the Wild photo-journalist Scott Ramsay recently visited the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park only to discover that fracking prospecting licenses have already been approved on the Botswana side of the park.

"My remote camp in the middle of the huge Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park was perfect. A camel thorn tree provided shade, and I was the only person for fifty kilometres in either direction.

Earlier I had driven my 4x4 for three hours along an empty jeep track connecting the South African side with Botswana’s Mabuasehube Game Reserve in the east.

Once I’d found a site, I pitched my roof-top tent, lit the wood fire and cracked a cold beer, then listened to the symphony of the desert dusk. Lions roared in the distance and barking gekkos chirped all around me. Stars streaked across the black sky. Out here, there are no roads, no electricity, no cell phone reception, no Facebook and no people.

The immense 3,8 million hectares protected area is an antidote to the claustrophobia and stress of the modern world. Bigger than Belgium, and fifty percent bigger than Kruger National Park, this cross-border park of grassy dunes and endless horizons is one of the few truly wild places remaining on the continent.

Most of Africa has been transformed by agriculture, mining and urban sprawl. A place like the Kgalagadi is a potent reminder of how much of the continent modern humans have already destroyed, a place that remains an authentic home for iconic creatures like lions, leopards and cheetahs.

But even the Kgalagadi – seemingly immune to the modern world – is now in danger of losing its natural lustre and wilderness atmosphere. The Botswana government has issued prospecting licences to energy companies who wish to use hydraulic fracturing to tap coal bed methane gas.

Along with the Botswana side of Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, prospecting licences have also been issued for Chobe National Park and Central Kalahari Game Reserve. TV program Carte Blanche last year confirmed that some fracking has already begun in Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

Although no extraction licences have been issued yet for the Kgalagadi area, prospecting rights have been granted, and there’s a possibility of fracking operations beginning on the Botswana side of the park.

South African National Parks Manager for Kgalagadi Steven Smith explained that potentially the whole of the Botswana side of the park is open to fracking operations. “We had no idea that the Botswana government was planning to do this. They should have consulted us first, because this is a transfrontier park.”

Currently, the matter has been transferred to South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs, and is waiting for their attention.

A recently released documentary entitled The High Cost of Cheap Gas reveals that Botswana’s government issued the licences without consulting stakeholders like the parks authorities, communities or farmers. Energy company SASOL have been linked to one of the prospecting licences.

The process of hydraulic fracturing is not only unsightly, with pipelines, drill towers and access roads scarring the land, it can also pollute ground water sources. In a place like the semi-arid Kgalagadi, where the average 150mm annual rainfall is highly variable and droughts are common, it could prove destructive to the natural environment.

There are no natural permanent sources of surface water in the park, and all the water for animals is supplied by numerous boreholes. The two rivers – the Auob and Nossob – flow briefly only every few decades after very heavy rain.

Here, water is everything. Indeed, the word “Kgalagadi” means “always dry” in Setswana. During my trip to Kgalagadi, several thunderstorms unleashed sporadic rain showers. The drenching water sometimes formed pools in the dry river beds and pans.

But within a day, the water had disappeared into the immense sandy area, soaking down into the ground water far below. The blazing sun soon turned the desert into an oven again, temperatures soaring to above 40 degrees Celsius.

According to Dr Gus Mills, who spent 40 years in the Kgalagadi studying carnivores, the animals are highly dependent on water and grazing for their survival, and need to move vast distances to follow the rains. Camel thorn trees have tap roots 70 metres deep that plunge down to the aquifers below.

“The Kgalagadi is a remnant of an even bigger natural system that once occurred in the southern parts of Africa,” explained Dr. Mills. “The area is big, but it’s not completely uninfluenced by people. It’s arid, it’s fragile and is sensitive to disturbance.”

There are worrying signs that the natural processes are being choked by development in surrounding areas. Springbok numbers have crashed, and are battling to recover. The trans-Kalahari highway and cattle fences could have stopped their migrations. Lions sometimes roam into surrounding areas, preying on cattle, only to be shot by farmers.

Now, with the prospect of fracking within Kgalagadi, the very sanctum of wilderness is under attack by man. Surely the question must be asked: why, when most of Southern Africa is already developed and exploited, are governments intent on destroying the last of the wilderness areas?

[nan]