December 10 2008 » News Clippings » Terrace Standard
Shell Shelves Coalbed Methane Plans
SHELL CANADA says it has agreed to a two-year moratorium on any more exploration activity for coalbed methane gas in the Klappan area so it can better explain what it wants to do.
Company spokesman Larry Lalonde said last week there has been a lot of misinformation about Shell’s plans for the Klappan and about coalbed methane exploration in general.
The two-year break, beginning Jan. 1, 2009, builds on a six-month hiatus the company announced in August.
That announcement followed a series of meetings and protests across the Northwest opposing Shell’s plans.
Anti-drilling sentiment even became a defining factor behind Skeena-Bulkley NDP MP Nathan Cullen’s re-election win in October.
Lalonde said the company will now have time to speak more with the Tahltan whose traditional territory takes in the Klappan and with other Northwestern residents.
“The idea is to take this break. It’s a tough place to get the information out. We need to take more time,” he said.
“What I can say is that there has been a great deal of misinformation that’s been circulated about what coalbed methane is and what kind of benefits it could bring,” Lalonde said.
Coalbed methane is a natural gas found trapped next to coal seams. It can be trapped by water, meaning that water needs to be released in order for coalbed methane gas to flow.
The prospect of groundwater coming up to the surface that could be poisonous has been seized upon by individuals and groups as a target when it comes to opposing Shell’s plans.
The Klappan has become known in some circles as the Sacred Headwaters, because it is the headwaters of the Skeena, Stikine and Nass rivers.
Shell had said it would not release groundwater on the surface, a statement it made even before a provincial policy banned the practice.
Critics also opposed coalbed methane drilling because the pools are relatively shallow, meaning more wells are needed to bring up gas then conventional natural gas which is found in deeper pools.
Shell first obtained a lease from the provincial government to explore the Tahltan for coalbed methane natural gas in 2004.
It drilled three wells in 2004, the only three it ever managed to drill before opposition began to build among segments of the Tahltan and among other groups and individuals in the Northwest.
Shell obtained licences to drill up to 14 wells earlier this year and spent several million dollars repairing a road so it could move heavy equipment into the area.
Altogether Shell has spent more than $7 million on Klappan-associated work. It was the only company to bid on drilling licences for the Klappan in 2004.
Shell’s licence was to run out in 2012 but it has now been extended to 2014 because of the two-year time out and it won’t be required to make any lease payments during the period.
Lalonde said it was too early to outline Shell’s meeting and communications plans for the next two years.
He also noted that the exploration program had barely gotten off the ground and that the company was in no way in a position to determine if there was a commercially viable pool of coalbed methane gas in the Klappan.
Tahltan Central Council president Annita McPhail welcomed the news, saying the exploration plans were “advancing without full and complete information or an established and agreed upon framework for decision-making that respects and recognizes Tahltan title and rights.”
“This suspension will provide our nation the time it needs to be well informed on all issues relating to [coalbed methane],” she added.
Provincial energy minister Richard Neufeld said Shell’s decision was reached in talks between it and the Tahltan.
He said halting industrial or other activity in B.C. in order for all affected parties to reach an agreement about what should happen isn’t uncommon.
And in some respects, two years is not a lot of time for a company like Shell which looks at developments in terms of decades, Neufeld added.
“I think Shell thinks they may have a pretty good resource there,” he said.
Meanwhile, environmental groups appear to regard the moratorium as the end of Shell’s coalbed methane plans for the Klappan.
“Our outreach and education work will continue until we are sure that coalbed methane drilling will never occur in the Sacred Headwaters,” said Julia Hill with the Terrace organization Northwest Watch.
