PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Northern Territory government would launch an inquiry into the merits of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the state, as well as its potential effects on the environment.

The territory’s Environmental Minister Peter Chandler said that fracking could be the key to unlocking huge economic benefits for the Northern Territory oil and gas industry.

“However, people are unsure about the potential impacts these practices could have on the environment and that does create some angst. These community concerns have led me to recommend that this government commission an inquiry into the potential environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing in the Northern Territory.”

Chandler noted that the inquiry would look at assessment of environmental risks, actual environmental impacts and the effectiveness of mitigation measures.

“The inquiry aims to separate the actual environmental risks from the perceived risks and clear up some of the claims about hydraulic fracturing that have caused significant public concern,” the Minister said, adding that recommendations of effective methods for mitigating actual environmental impacts would result from the inquiry.

The Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (Appea) on Thursday expressed its confidence the inquiry would reinforce the findings of previous national and international investigations which have proven that fracking posed minimal environmental risk.

Appea COO for the Western Region Stedman Ellis said the inquiry was unnecessary and risked delaying the exploration activity needed to encourage shale gas investment in the territory.

“Properly regulated hydraulic fracturing is a safe, well-established and well-understood industry practice,” Ellis said.

“The process has been used in Australia since the 1950s without incident. Worldwide, more than 2.5-million wells have been hydraulically fractured and nowhere has the process been identified as the cause of groundwater contamination.”

Ellis said that the outcomes of the numerous inquiries, reviews and studies that have already been held in Australia and overseas should be more than enough to reassure Territorians that fracking posed minimal risk to the environment.

Fracking is the process of extracting natural gas from rock layers deep within the earth. It involves creating cracks in underground coal seams to increase the flow and recovery of gas out of a well.