Shale gas research projects are becoming increasingly essential to put to bed speculation and uncertainties over the potential of reserves in South Africa, as well as the impact of hydraulic fracturing on the environment.

This was heard at a Fossil Fuel Foundation workshop on unconventional gas, held in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, which unpacked the various initiatives and studies under way in South Africa’s gas industry.

Council for Geoscience (CGS) hydrogeologist Kate Robey said that the CGS’s own three-year research project in Beaufort West, in the Western Cape, aimed to lay the groundwork for unconventional gas research in South Africa and to obtain a “better view” of what the country’s semi-desert region held in gas reserves.

“Research drilling projects have to take place to answer the unknowns and develop the necessary capacity in South Africa,” she told delegates at the workshop.

The reserve base of shale gas in South African was currently unproven. There was also a lack of clarity and uncertainty with regard to the amount of economically recoverable gas and, overall, there was limited knowledge about the shale gas said to be trapped within the Karoo formations.

There were also concerns and a number of unknowns surrounding the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) used to extract the shale gas, as well as the impact of fracking on the environment and already-scarce water sources, especially in the Karoo.

“We are learning,” Robey assured.

Projects such as the CGS’s three-phase deep-drilling project and the University of Johannesburg- (UJ-) hosted Centre of Excellence for Integrated Mineral and Energy Resource Analysis’s (Cimera’s) Karoo Research Initiative – or Karin – in the Western Cape, were essential to obtain information on the Karoo’s stratigraphy and hydrogeology.

The 4 km CGS deep-drilling research project, for which the drilling tender was currently being finalised, kicked off in 2015 to serve as a baseline study for future shale gas research work and to play a role in any review of policy formation around the controversial unconventional gas industry.

The CGS was currently preparing the basis of the three-year project, the third phase of which would be concluded in 2018, with initial studies under way and geological mapping complete.

A number of regional studies would be undertaken, including airborne geophysics and baseline hydrogeology work, besides others, to determine the environmental baseline, assess the amount of gas produced, test and monitor groundwater contamination and monitor potential seismic interferences.

Meanwhile, the Karin project focused on two recently drilled deep cores to obtain a full stratigraphic section on the southern part of the Karoo basin, said Cimera director and UJ professor Nic Beukes.

Drilling at KFZ, near Ceres, was complete by August last year, with drilling at KVW, near Willowvale, starting shortly thereafter.

Last year also saw the launch of a two-year strategic environmental assessment on shale gas by the Department of Environmental Affairs to gather information, identify gaps in knowledge and inform any shale gas regulations.

The assessment, undertaken by a consortium of science and research institutes, aimed to deliver a framework to establish effective policy, legislation and sustainability conditions, under which exploration and production shale gas development could occur.