Stripping away the hype from SA’s Karoo Fracking opportunity

By Alec HoggEver since reading the late Tony Twine's research report into the Shale Gas potential of the Karoo, I've been absorbed by the subject. Am a regular visitor to the Energy Information Agency website  and am currently engrossed in a book called TheFrackers which tracks the early years of the industry that transformed America's oil equation. The good news is that innovation cracked challenges posed by pretty much any geology. The bad news is despite having come miles in the environmental arena, fracking is still a red rag to any green bull, so getting any new project off the ground takes years.Given my interest, I was fascinated by yesterday's interview with Dutchman Jan-Willem Eggink, a senior executive at Shell who was sent to SA three years ago from Libya. Eggink mentioned that he lives above the 100 tcf Groningen field which "has made Holland rich for the last 50 years." The EIA estimates that the Karoo has almost four times those reserves. But there's no fast tracking any fracking process. As Eggink explained, provided there actually is gas in the Karoo shale, it will still be 10 years before the country derives any benefit.

Some great insights from an energy sector professional. You might call it Karoo Fracking 101. Click here to listen to the interview (or read the transcript).