more negative press from another national paper
https://kurier.at/chronik/oberoeste...rdgas-bohrung-molln-oberoesterreich/402293690
Natural gas in the national park municipality of Molln: Test drilling plannedThe test drilling is to take place very close to the Kalkalpen National Park.© Courier/Courier/Lukas LeontePlanned by the Austrian subsidiary of the Australian ADX. Mayor demands facts. For Greens, the project is "quirky", "positive" for FPÖ.Today, 16:13After the announcement of his plans, in the Upper Austrian. The exporting domestic company ADX Vie GmbH, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of ADX Energy Ltd, listed in Australia and headquartered in Perth, has emphasized that it has been in possession of the search license necessary for the project since April 2022, but does not have a drilling and production license. Whether there will really be a hole is therefore still open."There are also already contracts with the property owner, a test drilling is planned," said the company's press release. "It is important to note that the reports on possible large gas deposits are based on assumptions (prospects), but under no circumstances can be considered safe," it continued. Only after the test drilling has been carried out can it be informed whether there is any gas deposit at all in the municipality of Molln and then an application for approval should be submitted to the mining authority for utilizationInterviewOberbank boss: "2023 will surprise positively"Gas belongs to the federal governmentUnderground natural gas belongs to the state in Austria and only the federal government is entitled to seek and promote it. However, he can assign these rights to third parties for a fee, as Erika Wagner, board member of the Institute for Environmental Law at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, explained in the APA conversation. This is done through a so-called AGS contract (inquiry, extraction and storage contract for hydrocarbons), which the federal government concludes with the company. The acting authority is the mining authority. It has been located at various ministries in recent years, currently she is resorting the Ministry of Finance.ADVERTISINGInnovation & unique acceleration: This is what the all-electric models from BMW can do.CHRONICLE Upper AustriaNatural gas in Molln: Underground deposits belong to the RepublicThe Ministry of Finance informed on Monday that AGS contracts for the search areas "ADX-AT-I" and "ADX-AT-II" have existed since January 2021 for ADX VIE GmbH in the federal states of Salzburg, Upper Austria and Lower Austria. The Mollner project "Welchau 1" belongs to "ADX-AT-II." However, in order to actually be able to exercise the rights provided in the contract, a number of official permits are still required - at least according to the Mineral Raw Materials Act, depending on the project also according to further regulations or even within the framework of an EIA. So far, however, there has been no application for approval of an exploration hole in Molln, the ministry also emphasized. Therefore, it is not yet possible to make any statement about the extent of any later extraction and the timetable.22 billion cubic meters suspectedADX Energy Ltd expects a gas field size of 22 billion cubic meters, according to a communication published on its website. For comparison: Austria consumes around 8.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. The document also mentions the Canadian energy financing and development group Kepis & Pobe Financial Group Inc. (KPFG), which wants to finance 50 percent of the drilling in order to obtain a 20% stake in the Welchau area. She also has the option of financing another 50 percent against another 20 percent participation. The Canadians must do this by 21. January decide. The drilling site costs for "Welchau-1" were estimated at 3.8 million euros.The project had only become known in the media at the weekend after an environmentalist from Molln happened to come across the website of ADX Energy Ltd. Mayor Andreas Rußmann (SPÖ
criticizes a lack of information to the population and fears negative effects on the environment. He only received brief initial information shortly before Christmas. Only the environmental activist came across the true magnitude.2,250 meters from National ParkThe wishes of the mayor of Molln for more information will be met in the coming days, ADX assured on Monday. There are no plans to drill in a nature reserve, the company also emphasized. The planned drilling site is located exactly 2,250 meters from the national park border and only about 20 meters from the Jaidhaustal nature reserve, according to the Kalkalpen National Park, where the project was learned from the media. In nature conservation law, however, it is not the location that counts, but the impact on the protected area.Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) also stressed on Sunday evening in the ZiB2 that the proximity to the Kalkalpen National Park is a factor that will probably have to be examined in an EIA procedure. For Gewessler, the time horizon is relevant in the project: If it can make a contribution to the current energy crisis, it is in favor of checking it. With a possible contribution only in the 2030s, it no longer makes sense. Because in the 1930s you must have dropped out of fossil gas.Looking for alternatives makes senseSimilar to the oö. Economic and Energy State Councilor Markus Achleitner (ÖVP): It is good "if it is now checked whether natural gas deposits are available in Upper Austria and how quickly they can be used", but "a use of domestic natural gas stocks only makes sense if they can be extracted in the near future."From the Ministry of Finance responsible for the approval of test drilling, it is said that "acquiring new sources of supply and evaluating and discussing alternatives that also include domestic potential in detail - open to results - serves Austrian security of supply"."Squirky" projectFor the Upper Austrian Environment Councilor Stefan Kaineder (Greens), a realization of the project leads to the "scurious situation" that is drilled for gas that destroys the climate in the "natural pearl of Upper Austria." The LHStv responsible for nature conservation saw no reason to be upset. Manfred Haimbuchner (FPÖ
. Knowing about the mineral resources is "something very positive." Rejecting this possibility on the assumption that resources will no longer be needed in a few years, "I consider short-sighted and irresponsible," says Haimbuchner. The Department of Nature Conservation should find out whether protected goods could be affected by the drilling and initiate a technical assessment, but for which detailed information would still have to be obtained.CHRONICLE Upper AustriaExcitement about planned natural gas drilling in national park communityBacking of SPÖThe municipality of Molln is "not fundamentally against the project", but once all the facts have to be put on the table, the local leader cannot resist the impression that one wants to inform the population as little and as late as possible. He receives support from his state party leader Michael Lindner, who wants to have the interests of municipal citizens and nature conservation ensured and warns against a scenario that "an Australian corporation sells Austrian gas back to Austria or abroad with high profits."According to its own information, ADX is one of the few companies in Austria that has the know-how and licenses for the development and extraction of oil and natural gas as well as the underground storage of gas. Oil and natural gas deposits of the ADX are located in the greater Zistersdorf area and in Upper Austria in the municipality of Waldneukirchen. In 2021, an oil "dissusion project" was carried out in Anshof, as a look at the online catalog of the Federal Geological Institute shows.
