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What is shale gas

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Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:07.519
natural gas provides 1/3 of all the
00:00:10.459 00:00:10.469 energy consumed in the UK it is used by
00:00:14.360 00:00:14.370 industry for cooking and heating in
00:00:16.820 00:00:16.830 homes and by power stations for the
00:00:19.160 00:00:19.170 generation of electricity currently half
00:00:24.080 00:00:24.090 that gas has to be imported and forecast
00:00:26.839 00:00:26.849 suggests that figure will rise to more
00:00:29.120 00:00:29.130 than 60 percent by 2025 one domestic
00:00:33.650 00:00:33.660 option is shale gas and oil deposits are
00:00:37.100 00:00:37.110 known to exist in the north of England
00:00:38.959 00:00:38.969 the Weald basin in Sussex and Surrey and
00:00:41.600 00:00:41.610 the southwest and the central belt of
00:00:44.270 00:00:44.280 Scotland shale gas and oil occur
00:00:47.810 00:00:47.820 naturally in a layer of impermeable rock
00:00:50.180 00:00:50.190 around a mile underground extracting the
00:00:53.720 00:00:53.730 gas and oil involves a four stage
00:00:55.819 00:00:55.829 process and at every stage potential
00:00:59.000 00:00:59.010 operators must get consents from
00:01:01.069 00:01:01.079 independent regulators and public
00:01:03.189 00:01:03.199 consultation must take place potential
00:01:06.800 00:01:06.810 operators in the UK are currently at the
00:01:09.140 00:01:09.150 first stage exploration once companies
00:01:12.620 00:01:12.630 have consent they are allowed to explore
00:01:14.960 00:01:14.970 supplies at approved sites to find out
00:01:17.660 00:01:17.670 how much gas and oil could be extracted
00:01:19.969 00:01:19.979 commercially a typical exploration site
00:01:23.030 00:01:23.040 starts with construction of a well pad
00:01:25.249 00:01:25.259 it may contain Porter cabins for staff
00:01:28.249 00:01:28.259 living quarters and offices water and
00:01:30.830 00:01:30.840 waste storage and processing facilities
00:01:33.609 00:01:33.619 during drilling there will also be a
00:01:36.200 00:01:36.210 drilling rig the entire site is around
00:01:39.260 00:01:39.270 one to two hectares the size of one to
00:01:41.840 00:01:41.850 two football pitches operators use the
00:01:44.960 00:01:44.970 process of hydraulic fracturing also
00:01:46.999 00:01:47.009 known as fracking to help the extraction
00:01:49.789 00:01:49.799 of the gas and oil supplies deep
00:01:51.499 00:01:51.509 underground otherwise operations are
00:01:54.740 00:01:54.750 similar to other onshore oil and gas
00:01:56.840 00:01:56.850 extraction or fracking is a nickname a
00:02:00.260 00:02:00.270 shortened name for hydraulic fracturing
00:02:02.980 00:02:02.990 what you basically do is drill a hole
00:02:05.170 00:02:05.180 into the shale vertical for a while
00:02:07.929 00:02:07.939 going down and then it becomes
00:02:09.309 00:02:09.319 horizontal far below the surface and you
00:02:16.150 00:02:16.160 pump high-pressure fluid a mixture of
00:02:18.699 00:02:18.709 water and some chemicals into the shale
00:02:21.370 00:02:21.380 cracking the rock these fractures are
00:02:26.259 00:02:26.269 opened up by the high pressure and what
00:02:28.839 00:02:28.849 you do is you put tiny particles usually
00:02:31.030 00:02:31.040 send in these holes or these cracks and
00:02:34.660 00:02:34.670 that's known as proppant and that sand
00:02:37.539 00:02:37.549 keeps the cracks open so a gas flows out
00:02:40.870 00:02:40.880 of the cracks into the into the well but
00:02:44.110 00:02:44.120 of course what first comes out isn't
00:02:46.000 00:02:46.010 generally gas its the fluid that you've
00:02:48.820 00:02:48.830 pumped down the well then the the gas
00:02:51.550 00:02:51.560 starts coming out if exploration is
00:02:55.240 00:02:55.250 successful operators can then apply to
00:02:57.670 00:02:57.680 begin the pre-production stage during
00:03:00.370 00:03:00.380 pre-production more wells will be
00:03:02.620 00:03:02.630 drilled on the same site and more
00:03:04.750 00:03:04.760 equipment water and chemicals
00:03:06.880 00:03:06.890 transferred to and from the site
00:03:09.509 00:03:09.519 operators then apply for the next stage
00:03:12.420 00:03:12.430 production during this stage the oil is
00:03:16.210 00:03:16.220 sent to a refinery and the gas can be
00:03:18.460 00:03:18.470 connected to pipelines or tank it away
00:03:21.210 00:03:21.220 the final stage of the process is
00:03:23.890 00:03:23.900 decommissioning operators make the wells
00:03:26.890 00:03:26.900 safe for abandonment and must restore
00:03:29.590 00:03:29.600 the site to its original condition
00:03:34.760 00:03:34.770 you

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