Marcellus Barnett: Beetaloo Basin and Oil Gas

marcellus barnett: With an estimated 500 trillion cubic feet 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, Beetaloo has been compared to famed U.S. shale regions such as Marcellus and Barnett. ; But its isolated location, lack of infrastructure and the likelihood of tough environmental opposition make Beetaloo a highly speculative investment, according to The Japan Times. There are some big numbers being quoted, and people have to realize this is exploration, said Mark Schubert, Origin's head of integrated gas, noting that only some of the total reserves would be extractable. Origin Energy Ltd. plans to drill two wells later this year in the Northern Territory's Beetaloo Basin, after the local government ended a three-year ban on fracking the practice of extracting oil and gas from layers of shale rock deep underground. Origin's permit area is the size of Wales, but engineers on site are more likely to encounter crocodiles than sheep in the largely barren area. Beetaloo is about 2,500 kilometers 1,500 miles away from Sydney and even farther from Melbourne, so the project would require pipelines that would connect to and expand the capacity of Australia's growing gas transmission network. The scrubby bush land, dotted with billabongs, or water holes, would be familiar to fans of the 1986 hit movie Crocodile Dundee, which was shot partly in Kakadu National Park in the north of the territory. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.