The first Sydney hearing of the NSW parliamentary inquiry into coal seam gas commenced this morning with Santos (who have just taken over Eastern Star Gas CSG interests) coming before the panel. A few notes from their opening statement and responses to questions from the inquiry committee:
Santos said:
that plans for the Mullaley pipeline had been “divisive” and announce they will withdraw current Mullaley pipeline route.
that their coal seam gas development would create over 1000 jobs in rural NSW.
that they will release a “detailed expert report on economic benefits” of CSG in the next few weeks.
that there will be “3 years of research before any significant development”.
that there have been “no concerns from communities we operate within” and that there will always be groups that misconstrue or oppose projects, “At the end of the day science will prevail.”
looking at aquifer system is the “next phase of work,” “once that information is in the public domain people will see what we are doing is safe and sustainable” and Santos will be able to “continue business is this state”.
when quizzed on land access agreements that they aim “not to go down a legal or process driven” path. Santos rep said would provide an example of a land-access agreement (requested by Peter Primrose MLC).
that “modelling indicates” a $150million a year royalty return from a few hundred CSG wells. Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham asked for confirmation, saying would it not take many more wells (thousands) for a “royalty return of that magnitude,” Buckingham asked Santos to confirm if their development would therefore be made up of less than 1000 wells. Santos representative said “clearly we can’t be precise at this stage.” Santos also said, “we are at a very early stage … the area has a unique geology … very thick coal seams … lends self to lateral drilling … in effect one well is equivalent to several wells” (note: assume comparison is to Queensland or different drilling techniques).
they acknowledge behaviour of some small companies has meant “there is a reason why there is some disquiet, unrest, even fear” from community about CSG.
“without the right regulation communities do not have trust or faith … we support strong regulation because it lifts the bar.”
Schedule of today’s CSG inquiry public hearing is here (pdf).
