A “War on Shale Gas”?

A “War on Shale Gas”? by Brendan DeMelle, August 1, 2012, desmogblog
One of the first people to raise questions about shale gas’s potential was Arthur Berman, a former Amoco geologist who, at the time, was a long-time contributing editor for an industry magazine called World Oil. But when Berman raised important questions about the ways the shale gas industry calculated their reserves, his column was cancelled by the magazine — amidst pressure from shale gas companies like Petrohawk. Mr. Berman resigned in protest,and within a few days, his editor, Perry Fischer, was fired. The industry denied that it was responsible — “It is doubtful that his termination was a direct result of comments made by Petrohawk,” the company’s Investor Relations Vice President Joan Dunlap told a Houston Chronicle reporter at the time – but those involved had something different to say. “Let me be clear: The decision to pull Art’s column was due to pressure from these two companies,” Fischer later wrote. Despite this, Arthur Berman was undeterred. … It’s worth noting that Art Berman’s analysis is looking highly prescient these days. Official government estimates for shale gas have been slashed significantly. And the most basic element of his thesis – that caution is in order because it’s too early to know for sure how much and how long fracked wells will produce — has even been echoed by an unexpected source: former CEO of ExxonMobil Lee Raymond.