Exploration drilling for shale gas has begun in the Wierzbica community where a well with a depth of over 3 km is being drilled. In three weeks’ time work on another well will kick-off.
The drilling at Syczyn (near Cyców) is conducted by ORLEN Upstream, a daughter company of PKN Orlen. Work goes on round the clock. Drills will be sunk some three kilometres deep, to collect rock samples. From there, specialists will be evaluating for several months the amount of gas in the shale and the cost efficiency of its production. If the results are promising, in mid-2012 the company will proceed to horizontal drilling and to hydraulic fracturing – a process of injecting into rocks a mixture of water, sand and chemicals. This is done under a very high pressure, resulting in the release of gas from the shale.
“Such projects are highly capital-intensive and they require state-of-the-art technology”, says PKN ORLEN President Jacek Krawiec. “Fortunately, the testing field for shale gas extraction is in the U.S., where this production has been going on for ten years. This is a long record for a technology. Accordingly, only the best and safest processes will be used in this country”.
Syczyn in the Wierzbica community is the first site of Orlen’s exploration drilling in the region. Late in November the plant will be moved to the Niedźwiada community where the next exploration well is to be drilled. The investor claims that the work will not damage the environment and people, either at the exploration or the exploitation stage. “We have a very good environmental law”, adds Henryk Jezierski, Vice-minister of the Environment. “We mean to keep an eye on all investors. There will be no taking short-cuts. We will do everything to minimise the environmental impact of the drilling”.
Orlen is one of the eight companies exploring for gas in this region. Its concessions cover, besides the Wierzbica community, the areas around Lubartów, Garwolin and Hrubieszów. (...)
Source: Dziennik Wschodni Lubelski Ekodziennik, page no. 3, 2011-10-31, autor: Jacek Szydłowski
On this subject also in:
Nowy Tydzień Tygodnik Lokalny, page no.4, “Gaz rozpala nadzieje” [Gas Fires Hopes]