GFZ German research centre for geo sciences

Unconventional natural gas on Bornholm

10.08.2010|Potsdam:
Today, Wednesday, a scientific drilling project to investigate natural gas in shale rock is launched on the Danish island of Bornholm. The GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences together with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) will be performing a shallow drilling of 40 meters into the Alum Shale of the island within the research project GASH (Gas Shales in Europe). These dense claystone packages from the Cambrian era are some 500 million years old and may contain natural gas (methane). Also known as shale gas, this methane is regarded as a so-called unconventional natural gas and could be an interesting new energy resource for Europe.

10.08.2010 | Potsdam: Today, Wednesday, a scientific drilling project to investigate natural gas in shale rock is launched on the Danish island of Bornholm. The GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences together with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) will be performing a shallow drilling of 40 meters into the Alum Shale of the island within the research project GASH (Gas Shales in Europe). These dense claystone packages from the Cambrian era are some 500 million years old and may contain natural gas (methane). Also known as shale gas, this methane is regarded as a so-called unconventional natural gas and could be an interesting new energy resource for Europe.

Natural gas is referred to as shale gas when it is trapped in shales. Like any methane, shale gas derives from organic matter. Over a period of hundreds of millions of years, deposits of plant debris can decompose to crude oil and natural gas, if they are covered by sedimentary deposits under the necessary pressure and temperature conditions. In the case of shale gas, the process differs somewhat: before it can seep into larger reservoirs, it is trapped in the rock. For this to occur, the rock must be compact, meaning it has to be composed of very small individual grains. Claystone such as shale has such properties. Shale gas deposits are called unconventional because in contrast to conventional oil and natural gas systems, the gaseous claystone package provides three individual functions: as the mother rock in which the gas is formed, as a reservoir rock in which the matured gas is stored and as a cap rock that prevents the methane from escaping.

Scientists at the GFZ investigate these processes and potential deposits in Europe in the international-scale research program GASH, because the geological conditions that lead to the shale gas formation and preservation in Europe have as yet not been explored very well. The drilling on Bornholm is to improve the knowledge on this subject, by analysing the obtained cores with geological, geochemical, geophysical and geomechanical methods. To this end, the mobile laboratory "BugLab" of the GFZ will be transported to Bornholm.

The drilling will take about three days. In order to validate the results, a second core will be drilled close to the first bore hole, which will remain with the GEUS in Denmark. Finally, the drilling will be followed by geophysical examinations using 3-D seismics and water samples.

Eleven individual projects are implemented in the joint research project GASH. In addition, GASH is developing a European-wide black shale database that for the first time combines all the available geological information on black shales in Europe. Research partners are the German GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ and several European universities and research institutions. The GASH project will run over a three-year period (2009 to 2012) and is coordinated by the GFZ.

For more information, see www.gas-shales.org

For interview requests and a list of experts in GASH please contact:

Dr. Theresia Petrow
Project coordination GASH
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
Tel. 0331 / 288-1825
E-Mail: gash-info@gfz-potsdam.de

Franz Ossing
Public Relations
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
Tel. 0331 / 288-1040
E-Mail: ossing@gfz-potsdam.de

Additional News

back to top of main content