Australian Resources company Metgasco’s plans to drill for gas at Bentley on the NSW north coast are in disarray after state energy minister Anthony Roberts referred the project to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and announced its licence would be suspended due to insufficient community consultation, according to local media.
Protestors have been blocking the site for several weeks in what they call the “Bentley Blockade” near Lismore.
Mr Roberts announced the decision on Thursday morning, just days before police were due to be called in to break up a long-standing protest on the site.
Up to 800 police were due to enter the protest camp as early as Monday to disperse thousands of people.
Protesters are viewing this as a victory but are also wary that the battle against fracking for gas is not over.
Mr Roberts said the Office of Coal Seam Gas (OCSG) had told Metgasco the licence would be suspended because the company “did not fulfil a condition of its exploration licence, namely to undertake genuine and effective consultation with the community as required.”
Metgasco has drilled about 50 exploration wells, mostly in coal seam gas deposits about 800 metres below the surface. The suspension, however, applies to a so-called unconventional gas well to tap reserves trapped in sandstone about 2.3 kms below the surface.
Read more at Sydney Morning Herald.
