In a presentation for the IOMSA (Isle of Man shipping association) about the Manx gas fields, a shocking prospect came to light: The Permian tight sands deposit that we have off the coast would need offshore fracking to be economically recovered.
It would involve pumping a mix of water and sediments into this layer to release the gas and transport it via pipelines through the Ramsey Marine Nature reserve on land, where a “cleaning facility” would be created. It is possible that a connection to the UK infrastructure will be favoured by a different company – not anything better.
The envisioned timeline for this endeavour is putting the further exploration drilling rights out with the UK licensing round in June 2017.
First seismic studies would start in Winter 2017 but only in 2023 income for the Isle of Man from the gas revenues would be received. By then we are supposed to already having cut back our carbon emissions, according to the Paris climate change plan!
For this to happen we need to leave our gas resources in the ground and concentrate on renewable energy sources!
So far, the majority of fracking has be done on land, which is generally more safe. We cannot believe that this highly controversial technology is to be applied –in our waters–. The environmental consequences could be huge!
Isn’t the massive uptick of earthquakes in Oklahoma enough to deter our politicians?
Fracking leading to earthquakes in Oklahoma
There are multiple consultants to the industry who will explore their individual schemes. The leaflet of the consultancy that held a presentation for the IOMSA on 10.11.2016 follows.
