External opinion
“For the past 14 years I have been Chief of the West Moberly First Nations in north-eastern British Columbia. In this role, I have been actively involved in speaking about issues of importance to First Nations. This includes the legal duty to consult with First Nations as well as the impacts of the oil and gas industries’ activities on First Nations.
Shell is a valued partner in our region but it is also a part of an industry with which we have a challenging relationship. We are encouraged by Shell’s new approaches to land use planning that it brings to the region.
However, we urge Shell and others in its industry to consider the cumulative impacts of industrial development before they make decisions. Shell must balance economic opportunity against our treaty rights and its impact on the environment; it must consider what is ultimately best for the area and all who live here.”
Roland Willson
Chief of the West Moberly First Nations, Fort St John, British Columbia, Canada
Tight gas and oil are trapped in microscopic pores of very dense shale or sandstone rock, thousands of metres underground. There are large tight-gas deposits all over the world including in Australia, China, eastern Europe, North America, South America and South Africa. Extracting these resources will enable many more countries to benefit from access to gas.
Shell currently has a number of projects producing tight gas and oil in the USA, Canada and China as well as exploration projects under way in countries that include Colombia, Argentina, Turkey and South Africa. In 2014, we produced around 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) a day from tight gas and oil in North America and about 25,000 boe a day in China.
The increased use of tight gas and oil resources in North America has led to a drop in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions due to greater use of gas instead of coal.
