“Debate about the development of our [potential] shale gas...

“Debate about the development of our [potential] shale gas reserves and future electricity supply is taking place in an emotional, but largely uninformed fashion. We will not know how much gas can be extracted, at what cost and how best it can be used until exploratory wells have been drilled and geologists have examined the extracted data,” Keeton advocated in an opinion editorial published last month in Business Day.

In the piece, he acknowledges the legitimate environmental complications that may arise as a result of the fracking process – including waste management, the deterioration of air quality, groundwater contamination and the migration of gas to the land’s surface – but believes the risks associated with preliminary exploration are “relatively minor” and can be managed by existing regulations.

“Let us at least reach a point where we know what it is we are debating. The sooner the geologists get drilling, the better,” he argues.

Steyl agrees. Having spearheaded a 2012 Water Research Commission study on the impact of shale gas development and as a listed adviser to the inter-Ministerial working group on hydraulic fracturing, he is concerned about the long-term effects of the process, but believes he would support fracking, should proper risk-mitigation measures be in place.

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/uncertainty-around-commercial-prospects-of-karoo-shale-gas-predicates-necessity-for-exploratory-fracking-2013-08-30