Representatives of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) – Mr. Scott Perry (Deputy Secretary, Office of Oil and Gas Management) and Mr. Kurt Klapkowski (Director, Bureau of Oil and Gas Planning and Program Management) visited Warsaw headquarters of the Ministry of the Environment on 23-24 May 2014. Our guests held a meeting with Mr. Sławomir Brodziński, Chief Geologist of Poland, and delivered a training for staff members of Polish government agencies and institutions.
Sharing experience from the management of shale project and development of shale gas industry was on the agenda of the meeting with Poland's Chief Geologist Sławomir Brodziński.
In the next three days our guests from the USA trained in management of shale gas production operations almost 100 staff members from Polish government agencies and institutions. Training curriculum included administrative, legal, environmental, educational and social aspects.
Experience from several years of shale gas production enabled the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to establish clear rules and conditions for exploration/production operations.
Significant amendments were made to the state laws so as to adapt them to extractive industry requirements. Supervision over operations and environmental monitoring procedures were improved.
Subsequently, the visitors from the U.S. met in Gdansk Mr. Mieczysław Struk, Pomeranian Local Assembly Speaker, and then visited Tępcz-1 drill site where shale gas exploration operations are underway.
Pennsylvania has a long history of oil and gas exploration. Since 1850's, almost 350 000 oil and gas wells have been drilled there.
Shale gas was first produced in Pennsylvania in 2005 and since then some 8,000 shale gas wells have been drilled there. The progress of exploration was still impressive in 2013: as much as 1207 shale gas and 967 conventional gas wells were drilled. Almost 88 Bcm of natural gas (about six-fold Poland's annual gas consumption) were produced.
In 2013, DEP specialists made 12000 audits covering a total of 5500 wells. All audit costs are borne by exploration and production industry. Audit reports are available to the public.
For more information about Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection visit the official website of the Department.
source: Ministerstwo Środowiska, www.lupki.mos.gov.pl
24.05.2014
author: abar
