Arrow Energy

Arrow Energy is a company based in Australia that is involved in the exploration, appraisal and development of coal seam gas (CSG). The company has access to around 65,000 km2 of CSG exploration tenements throughout Queensland and northern New South Wales. Arrow operates CSG projects at Moranbah in the Bowen Basin and around Dalby in the Surat Basin. The company’s five producing projects account for around 20 percent of Queensland’s overall gas consumption.

Arrow was established in 1997 and listed on the Australian Stock Xchange in August 2000. In July 2010, Arrow was acquired by CS CSG (Australia) Pty Ltd which is jointly owned by Shell and PetroChina.

Most of the CSG is supplied to the Daandine (33MW), Townsville (235MW) and Braemar 2 (450MW) power stations. Arrow’s net generation capacity is 488MW.

According to Arrow's website: "We are now expanding our existing projects while advancing a number of highly prospective blocks ahead of meeting growing local demand and supplying a planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Gladstone with an expected capacity of 8 million tonnes a year. Arrow’s is currently planning the development of the Surat Gladstone Pipeline and Central Queensland Gas Pipeline to facilitate the supply of CSG from our Surat and Bowen Basin projects respectively to the LNG facility."

Benzene found in Arrow wells
In November 2010, follow-up tests confirmed the presence of the carcinogen benzene in three coal seam gas wells in central Queensland, according to Arrow Energy. The company's Moranbah gas project, west of Mackay, had detected traces of benzene in samples taken from three of 60 wells. The BTEX chemicals benzene, toluene, ethylene and xylene can be naturally occurring, but are also used by some coal seam gas operators to fracture rock seams and to extract gas, a process known as fracking. In October 2010, benzene was also found in eight wells at Origin Energy and Australia Pacific LNG's CSG wells. Another gas extraction project - Cougar Energy's pilot underground coal gasification plant near Kingaroy - was forced to suspend operations after traces of benzene and toluene were found in nearby bores.

Some say an alarming pattern is emerging and want a moratorium imposed on exploration licences for CSG mining projects until water supply and other risks are properly assessed. The National Farmers Federation also fears there have not been enough studies done to ensure groundwater won't be adversely affected by CSG and other similar operations. Environmental concerns have led to some Queensland farmers locking their gates and refusing mining companies access to their land.

Citizen groups working on coal seam gas issues

 * Western Downs Alliance working on coal seam gas on the Darling Downs in Queensland.
 * Basin Sustainability Alliance looking at the coal seam gas industry in Queensland.

Contact Information
Arrow Energy Ltd Level 19, AM60 42 - 60 Albert Street Brisbane Queensland 4000 Australia Phone: +61 7 3012 4000 Fax: +61 7 3012 4001 Website: http://www.arrowenergy.com.au/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Australia and coal
 * Coal seam gas projects in Australia

External articles

 * Liz Hayes, "Undermined", Sixty Minutes, NineMSN, May 14, 2010.