Onshore gas
Shale gas is found in shale rock layers at depths of about 1000 to 3000 metres. Shale rock has very low porosity and permeability. It is much harder and deeper underground than coal seams (exploited in QLD).
WA has one of the world’s largest onshore gas reserves across three shale basins
These are estimated to contain 280 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas (200 times Australia’s annual domestic gas use). That is over 200 times the annual domestic gas usage for the whole of Australia – suggesting the main market for the current gas market is international. This aside, the development of this resource could produce over 20GT CO2 and require an estimated 100,000+ fracking wells to make it economically viable.
Further, tight gas, like shale gas, requires relatively large amounts of hydraulic horsepower and excessive quantities of water to extract. We must then take into account how this unconventional gas mining process would (and does) interact and affect our water supplies.
