Coal seam gas operators are feeling the heat. Photo: Glenn Hunt
THE safety reputation of the Australian gas sector has taken a fresh battering, with a well blowout in Queensland adding to a dangerous ''planking'' incident on top of a 60-metre flare tower in South Australia.
Santos's sacking of two workers for their ''irresponsible'' prank atop the Whyalla flare tower was quickly overshadowed yesterday when a gas well jointly operated by international companies Shell and PetroChina blew out for reasons that remain uncertain.
The blowout started when workers tried to install a pump, creating a pressurised spout of water and gas that spewed for more than 24 hours until it was plugged shortly before midday yesterday.
The farmer who owns the land around the well claimed it was the fourth gas-related incident on the property in five years, denting efforts by the gas sector to build public confidence in the controversial practice of tapping coal seam gas.
Rival coal seam gas operators were privately seething over the potential damage to the image of the sector. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said the joint-venture company - Arrow Energy - would now be subject to a ''thorough investigation''.
Opposition to the harvesting of coal seam gas has come from several directions in recent months, with farmers concerned about land access and water quality, while environmentalists have voiced concerns over the pumping of chemicals into underground wells and aquifers.
And there is a boycott campaign against a Queensland theatre company because it accepted sponsorship from gas company QGC.
Arrow Energy spokesman Tony Knight said it was too early to tell if human error was a factor in the blowout, but there were indications the well had responded unusually to standard operations.
''It behaved in an unexpected manner … it's the first well in 100 that has behaved in that way,'' he said.
Mr Knight said there had been no injuries or damage to infrastructure arising from the blowout, and the fact the well was fixed showed that safety procedures were strong.
''Overall the safety ethic of the industry is good and getting better,'' he said.
The blowout occurred in the Surat Basin, which supplies the domestic gas market, but the Arrow joint venture also has plans to become a major exporter of coal seam gas through Gladstone.
Queensland Conservation Council spokesman Nigel Parratt said the expansion of the coal seam gas industry had been too fast and his organisation wanted a moratorium on further coal seam gas permits.
''Things are moving ahead too quickly based on some very flimsy understandings and management options,'' he said.
''We need to slow things down and get a much better and robust understanding on what the impacts are likely to be and how do we manage them when they occur.''
National Party senator Barnaby Joyce, whose home town of St George is not far from the scene of the blowout, said gas companies would suffer if they did not take the concerns of local communities seriously.
''This has got to work in such a way that people don't feel isolated and threatened by the industry,'' he said.
Senator Joyce said he would like a parliamentary inquiry into the impact of coal seam gas expansion in Queensland and New South Wales.
