Research Forum Agriculture, Communities and Coal Seam Gas

Transcription

1 Research Forum Agriculture, Communities and Coal Seam Gas Chinchilla, Queensland Thursday 17 November, 2016

2 Presentation: Current and estimated water production from CSG development Presenter: Professor Andrew Garnett Andrew has been the Director of the UQ Centre for Coal Seam Gas since January 2013, managing a research program that addresses the social performance, water, geosciences and petroleum engineering issues relevant to the onshore gas industry. Prior to joining UQ Andrew gained over 25 years world-wide experience with oil majors in conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon exploration, appraisal and development projects and also worked in senior roles in carbon capture and storage projects. Andrew is also a Director of the UQ Energy Initiative and a nonexecutive Director of National Energy Resources Australia. Background Info With 5 of 6 LNG trains now running and the 6th due to start later this year, we are now well into the ramp up of CSG production and have actual data on the volumes of water being produced. This in turn provides information to history match dynamic models against such that new forward forecasts are more accurate. The volumes of water actually produced has an impact on the anticipated cumulative impacts and the volume of salt that may result from water treatment. Image: Australia Pacific LNG

3 Presentation: UQ groundwater use study Presenter: Professor Andrew Garnett Project overview This study is being undertaken to improve estimates of water bore extraction rates across the Surat CMA, which can be used to improve the accuracy of future groundwater models used by government and industry. Professor Andrew Garnett will discuss the research, including UQ s field monitoring program, interpretation of various data sources, and statistical modelling approach. UQ s groundwater use study will help to better understand groundwater extraction rates from water bores across the Surat CMA. The project is using statistical techniques, as well as field monitoring to ground truth the statistical models, to better quantify this important input to regional groundwater flow models. Key points UQ are conducting a study to better estimate water bore extraction rates in the Surat CMA This is being undertaken to independently improve the accuracy of future groundwater flow models used by government and the CSG industry The study will use a range of data sources, including field monitoring of flows from bores to produce statistical estimates of water use from each aquifer with the Surat CMA The first estimates from the study will be produced by the end of 2016 Media contact: Andrew Garnett a.garnett@uq.edu.au

4 Presentation: Agriculture and Coal Seam Gas: Two Industries on One Landscape Presenter: Professor Jim Cavaye Key points The University of Queensland s research addressed two main issues that are central to the business relationship between the CSG and agricultural industries (1) understanding what co-existence means and how to facilitate it and (2) working out how to measure both positive and negative impacts of CSG operations on agricultural businesses and identifying how best to manage these impacts: Landholders, the CSG industry, and government appear to agree on three crucial elements for successful and improving coexistence: RELATIONSHIPS, INFORMATION, INTERMEDIARIES. 47 landholders were interviewed in this study and analysis of the interview data identified both positive and negative impacts. The information from interviews helped researchers to develop a package of monitoring tools that landholders can use to identify and measure change on their property. These were successfully trialled on 3 properties over a 10 month period and can be adapted to a variety of farming types. Jim Cavaye is the Professor of Regional Community Development in the Institute for Resilient Regions at the University of Southern Queensland. He leads a collaborative research program addressing key issues for regional communities. In a former role at UQ, he led the project on agriculture and coal seam gas. Media contact: Andrew Garnett

5 Presentation: UQ Cumulative Impacts Indicators project Presenters: Associate Professor Will Rifkin & Dr Kathy Witt Dr Will Rifkin is the Chair in Social Performance in the University of Queensland s Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM). For the UQ Centre for Coal Seam Gas, he oversees a $5-million, 5 year research program on effects on communities from nearby onshore natural gas development. Rifkin is an engineer-turned-sociologist with a focus on communication between technical and non-technical people. He has pulled together insights from fields such as conversation analysis, anthropological study of witchdoctors, organisational change, and adult learning. Dr Kathy Witt is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UQ CSRM. Kathy has an interdisciplinary PhD in environmental management/sociology. She is interested in the linkages between social and ecological systems, social capital in rural communities, theories of rights and responsibility, public discourse, deliberative democracy and complex adaptive systems. Her current work on cumulative impact assessment combines these interests, and she has been a member of the team that developed the UQ cumulative impacts toolkit. Her family roots are in rural Queensland. Key points CSG development has been a catalyst for social and economic change in the Darling Downs Some sections of the community have benefitted and others have faced challenging times UQ has combined interviews with analysis of statistical data to tell the story of changes over the past 15 years This story has been shared with numerous government agencies and the CSG companies in Brisbane See statistics on the small business boom and the downturn, and gain insight on what might be the new normal'.

6 Presentation: Measuring economic trends & benefits of CSG development on local businesses - (SME sub-project) Presenter: Will Rifkin This research is being conducted by Associate Professor Martie-Louise Verreynne, Associate Professor John Steen, and Dr Jerad Ford (UQ Business School). This research has investigated the key SME capabilities and policy settings which lead to resilient local businesses. This study investigated factors that influence performance of small businesses in Queensland towns affected by CSG development across three time periods: investment ( ), transition to operations ( ) and estimated future performance (to 2017). Insights gained from this research are likely to benefit stakeholder not only within this region but also in new regions likely to experience onshore gas development. Also, an improved understanding of key capabilities required for organisational resilience might enable local SMEs and communities to better anticipate and plan for changes arising from gas development. Project s outcomes Identified characteristics and key capabilities of successful adaptation in local SMEs that are responding positively to the dynamic business environment and to the shift from construction to operations phase of CSG development. Determined factors external to SMEs that facilitate or constrain local businesses benefiting from, or adapting effectively to, new opportunities and the new economic environment, in order to inform and improve business resilience of the SME sector.

7 Presentation: Water Chemistry Atlas for CSG fields- Phase 2 ( ) Presenter: Dr Sue Vink The University of Queensland Centre for Coal Seam Gas researchers have developed an open source, 3D, intuitive Water Atlas. The Atlas is a unified, soon to be publically available (via a Web browser) source of groundwater level data, groundwater chemistry data, hydrogeological layers and analysis tools. The water level and chemistry data in the Atlas are from the state government groundwater database and will be updated on a regular basis. The Water Atlas also contains the latest geological model of the Surat Basin prepared for the State Government Office of Groundwater Impact Assessment (OGIA). Users can search using well details or by selecting a physical area on the display. The Atlas provides information in a range of formats, depending on the user s enquiry Dr Sue Vink is the Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry, Sustainable Minerals Institute, UQ. Sue s research is primarily aimed at quantifying the physical (including hydrological), geochemical and biological processes that control the distribution and cycling of elements at the earth s surface. Sue s research interests include applications of isotopic and geochemical tracers in natural and mining systems to determine water balance, water sources, mixing and biogeochemical processes; water quality/quantity interactions in mineral processing and mine site water management; role/interactions of hydrological processes, geochemical reactions and biological processes controlling mine site water quality. Image: ECOS Magazine

8 Presentation: Stakeholder trust in CSG research and industry operations Presenter: Associate Professor Will Rifkin presenting on behalf of Associate Professor Gillespie This research was conducted by Associate Professor Nicole Gillespie, UQ Business School (Chief Investigator) and Dr Carol Bond, UQ Business School. An organisation's reputation for trust is the foundation to its performance and long-term survival. Yet building and maintaining stakeholder trust is challenging, particularly in large, complex field operations that have multiple interconnected stakeholders, such as in the CSG industry. CSG companies must understand and manage trust with their stakeholders - the community, political influencers, employees, contractors, regulators and the media, if they are to stay competitive and maintain their social license to operate. This research has examined the following questions: What are the key drivers of stakeholder trust? How do the key drivers of trust differ among stakeholder groups? How can stakeholder trust be built & maintained in the future? Image: CSIRO Australia

9 Contact Details Dr Sue Vink- Associate Professor Nicole Gillespie- Associate Professor John Steen Dr Jerad Ford- Associate Professor Will Rifkin- Dr Kathy Witt- Professor Jim Cavaye- A reminder to please return completed survey (in your registration pack) to the AgForce registration table before departing today. Today s agenda on next page.

10 Time Activity Speaker 8.30 Registration Start 9.00 Welcome and Introduction Andrew Garnett Groundwater 9.10 Groundwater atlas Sue Vink 9.25 Questions Current and estimated water production from CSG development 2. UQ groundwater use study 9.50 Questions Morning Tea Andrew Garnett Agriculture & Town Impacts Agriculture and CSG project Jim Cavaye Questions Socio-economic Indicators Will Rifkin & Kathy Witt Questions Community Perceptions & Business Outcomes Community sentiment Rod McCrea & Andrea Walton Questions Trust in the industry & Government Questions Will Rifkin Small-Medium Businesses Will Rifkin Questions Conversations & Conclusions Lunch Visit Project Stations Feedback Facilitated by Andrew Garnett Wrap up Informal discussions Close forum

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