Advance science to drilling

The temptation to exploit unconventional sources of oil and gas is greater than ever, but before drilling, you should call the scientists * Scientific American Israel editorial

The end of the act - with the first thought, says the well-known proverb. However, our colleagues, the editors of Scientific American in the USA, lament in their editorial in November 2011 that this is not the case regarding a controversial method for producing natural gas. In the article "The truth about underground fracking" (page 32 of the printed journal - February-March 2012 issue) Chris Mooney describes the process, called fracking in English slang, during which huge amounts of water are injected at high pressure into horizontal wells to release the gas trapped in the rock . The method will allow the USA to produce huge amounts of natural gas on its own and significantly increase the security of its energy sources. Ten years ago, these sources provided only 1% of US natural gas consumption. Today they provide 30%. However, even at the time of writing these lines, a fierce legal battle is underway in the USA in an attempt to ban the use of the method in the state of New York, on the grounds that it contaminates the drinking water. The state of New South Wales in Australia has imposed a temporary ban on gas production through fracking pending the publication of the conclusions of an inspection committee investigating health, safety and environmental aspects of the method.

Unconventional sources of oil in the world

Environmental activists and experts, and even we at Scientific American Israel, repeat and warn that humanity must find ways to wean itself from the addiction to fossil fuels and move to renewable energy and efficiency and saving in energy use. But even though renewable energy is the fastest growing sector in the global energy market, even the most optimistic understand that such a transition will take decades. With all the good will, in the medium term humanity, driven by the rapidly growing economies in the Far East, will continue to depend on fossil fuels.

But how long will the interim period last? The popular opinion holds that the oil in the world is running out. The price increase of the last few years intensified this feeling and introduced a dimension of urgency and panic. However, during the preparation of this issue, the experts we talked to came back and said that this is not the case. There is enough oil in the world, we were told, but the problem lies in the nature of its sources and their geographical distribution. Most of the known and easy-to-produce oil reserves are in the hands of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, which are in no hurry to produce it and lower its price. In the rest of the world, oil reserves are running out and the search for new sources is moving further and further away to remote and hard-to-reach places, which have increased its price. If the world continues to depend solely on the sold oil, we expect that the industrialized world, which will also include India and China, will depend more and more, economically and politically, on the countries that produce oil, whose political stability is uncertain.

This is where "unconventional" deposits come into the picture - sources rich in organic carbon, such as heavy oil, oil sands and oil shale, the production of which was not economically profitable until a few years ago. The map of these sources highlights two sites in the world where huge deposits of oil shale were discovered: one in the USA and one in our region, in Israel and Jordan (blue circles on the map). The increase in the price of "conventional" oil, the perfection of the production methods of oil and gas from new sources, and the decrease in its price, turned the tide and made the exploitation of these sources economically worthwhile.

The oil shales in Israel have been known for years, but the difficulty in producing them, the quality of the oil obtained from them and environmental considerations have prevented their exploitation. Dr. Harold Winger worked at the global Shell company in developing a new method: underground creation of liquid oil through horizontal drilling and heating the shale. After he retired, he immigrated to Israel and founded the IEI company in Jerusalem with his partners to operate the method for extracting fuel from the oil shale reservoir of the Judean Lowlands. According to him, Israel can produce quantities of oil that rival those of Saudi Arabia, and the special geological circumstances of the region minimize the environmental risks. The green organizations and the residents of the Adulam region are not convinced, and a fight is also taking place here to stop the project. The spotlight section on page 14 features an interview with Winger and the company's chief geologist, Dr. Yuval Bartov.

However, we in Israel can avoid the American mistake. Economic and political constraints may push Israel to exploit this unconventional fuel source - there is a tremendous temptation and clear advantages in this - even at the expense of environmental damage. But right now, there is still time for an in-depth scientific examination and to determine safe courses of action and red lines to prevent an environmental disaster, not only in the Judean Plain but also in offshore drilling and other energy plants. Such an examination cannot remain only in the hands of the operating companies and must also take into account the alternatives, and their harm and benefit. Carrying out the test in the field could cause local damage, which is why, for example, the residents of Adulam and environmental associations oppose IEI's test drilling. The American lesson shows that this limited risk is worth the price, provided that the research results are open and visible for public discussion.