Spain Discovers Gas Reservoir
October 19th, 2011
The President of the autonomous Basque Government, Patxi Lopez, announced on Friday in Dallas (Texas) that the Basque Country has discovered a shale gas field in southern Alava of 180,000 million cubic metres, equivalent to five years of consumption for Spain or 60 years consumption for the autonomous community itself.
Lopez said that next year work will begin on two extraction wells in order to confirm the predictions. The Basque Government, through Basque Energy, controls 42.8% of the company which will be responsible for the surveys, shared with Texan company Heyco, with 21.8%, and Cambria Europe, with the remaining 35.4%. The surveys will start with an investment of 100 million euros, of which the Basque Government will provide 40 million euros, reported Cinco Dias, with the remaining 60 million being invested by the two U.S. companies.
The announcement was made beside one of Heyco’s Dallas wells. Heyco has developed technology to exploit the market for the unconventional gas, shale gas, which, instead of being in pockets that require drilling, is found at great depths in small limestone deposits. The Basque President explained that “this is a strategic project for the country, a guarantee of future sustainability.”
The Basque Country’s Minister of Industry, Bernabé Unda, said the project will bring energy self-sufficiency to the region and “will be a tractor of activity for our economy, generating work, employment and wealth for other companies” in the territory.
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