Companies prospecting for gas (coal bed Methane) fear that there is a smear campaign by outsiders meant to discredit exploration of the last untapped coal gas resources in Botswana.
The two companies Tlou Energy, which is listed on Australian Stock Exchange, and Kalahari Energy are worried that they have been a victim of a movie dubbed “High Cost of Cheap Gas” that claims that the two┬á companies were conducting fracking activities that┬ácould pose a negative impact to the environment.
Tlou Energy Director, Glen Smit, stated in an interview that his company has been accused of fracking activities in the latest movie while the company is not using that method in the exploration of gas.
“We have never done fracking and will not do fracking but we are not saying fracking is something that is not good. It has been practised before,” he said.
He explained that it is disheartening that even the people who were producing the movie never bothered to ask them but went ahead to tarnish Tlou Energy.
Smith stated at his site in Moiyabana that the negativity from the international media has tarnished the company’s reputation in its quest to explore gas for the country’s benefit as the company intends to apply for a mining license for possibility of commercialisation.
He said that the international media also reported recently that the company’s employees were also sexual abusing children in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve while there is no truth about.
He said the international media is all out to drag the company’s┬á name in mud. He continued to explain that he is not aware about the motive behind this smear campaign.
At a site in Mmashoro the gas produced through the controversial fracking is lost in the air. Government red tape has resulted in companies prospecting for gas in Mmashoro to extract gas that is not being put to good use.
Gas that could be used for vehicles and power stations is lost in the air as the policy prohibits those given prospecting license to commercialise before they are given a license for mining.
Botswana lately was screened in movies for allowing mining companies to conduct fracking activities which are viewed as unethical and cheap way of producing gas that could have negative impact to the environment.
But Kalahari Energy, a wholly owned citizen company, does admit that fracking has been there but emphasized that their fracking activities are environmentally friendly and the company is not scared for an audit to be undertaken to find out whether indeed whether the activities are degradable to the environment.
“We are actually using a technology that would not contaminate water that is being used for consumption and degrade the environment. Fracking has been there but we are using a technology that is far from contaminating water or┬áposing a serious problem to the environment as the movie claims. You wonder where people get the stories to launch campaign against us and they want to be listened when they are not actually aware of what is happening and it’s not their field. The problem is that they are using a slang word to refer to hydraulic fracturing as fracking,” said Kalahari Energy,Geologist, Mokwaledi Ntsimanyana.
