Keith Bradsher, China Takes on Big Risks in Its Push for Shale Gas; Effort to gain energy independence raises safety, health and pollution issues.
, Apr 12, 2014 (front-page top report).
Quote:
“in Jiaoshizhen, the Chinese energy giant Sinopec says it has made the country’s first commercially viable shale gas discovery.
“In China, companies must drill two to three times as deep as in the United States, making the process significantly more expensive, noisier and potentially more dangerous. Chinese energy giants also operate in strict secrecy; they rarely engage with local communities, and accidents claim a high death toll.
“Villagers [at Jiaoshizhen] said that employees at the time told them that eight workers died when the rig exploded that night [in April 2013; fire covering the steel frame of the rig, which is nearly 100 feet high; burned for hours]. Sinopec officials and village leaders then ordered residents not to discuss the event, according to the villagers. Now villagers complain of fouled streams and polluted fields. * * * Sinopec describes the incident as a controlled flaring of gas and denies that anybody died.
“The bustling activity in Jiaoshizhen indicates a significant find for Sinopec.
“The valley has been so isolated for centuries that residents of its 16 hamlets still speak a dialect that is distinct even from Fuling, 13 miles away. Jiaoshizhen had only two-story concrete buildings and single-story mud brick farmhouses last August; Sinopec workers lived in trailers while managers rented the upstairs of concrete homes. On a visit six months later, at least 20 tower cranes were erecting high-rises.
“The gas field in Jiaoshizhen ‘is the closest we have in China to a breakthrough project,’ said Gavin Thompson, the head of Asia and Pacific gas and power research at Wood Mackenzie, one of the largest energy consulting companies. He noted, however, that Sinopec was providing few details and that he, like most Western experts, had not been able to visit the valley.
“drilling by China National Petroleum [Corp (CNPC)] in 2003 about 120 miles to the northeast released toxic gases that killed 243 people and sickened thousands. That accident involved conventional gas exploration, however, not fracking.
“Despite her complaints, Ms Tian [Shiao Yung, a local farmer], like every other resident interviewed, welcomed the drilling for one reason: money. Sinopec rents land from farmers for 9,000 renminbi, or $1,475, per acre each year. Farmers earn that much money from growing crops only in the best years, and then after hundreds of hours of labor.