Natural Resources committee  The first part of the process, the drilling and completion, is quite employment intensive. But even though that wellhead or those wells exist for many years, the employment continues for long-term job creation. There have been economic studies cited in several jurisdictions in North America, such as the Haynesville project in Louisiana, where 50,000 jobs were created in one year and $6 billion of wealth has been created, and in the Barnett shale, which is the most active of the shale projects in North America, 130,000 jobs were created over a multi-year timeframe.

Natural Resources committee  I can only speak for our company, Talisman Energy Inc. We put on our website, the Talisman U.S.A. website, the exact components of that fracturing fluid.

Natural Resources committee  Are you speaking of Quebec specifically, sir?

Natural Resources committee  Yes, sir, we did get two infractions a couple of weeks ago. Those infractions were administrative errors when we were moving water. We had a permit to store the water on one site, and because we thought it would be more efficient to move some of that water from one site to the other, we didn't have the exact administrative paperwork to move it.

Natural Resources committee  You're exactly right. The ultimate decision for the development of this resource is going to be placed with the citizens of Quebec. They will make that decision and we will respect that decision, whatever one they come up with. I would like to note that part of our process when we go into a specific area is that we meet with all the stakeholders of the area.

Natural Resources committee  No, sir.

Natural Resources committee  The first answer is that in Pennsylvania we reuse all of our water. We reuse 100% of the water we get back, so that obviously takes that part out of the equation. The other part of the question I answered was that in Quebec it's very early days; there are only a few wells that have been fracture stimulated.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chairman, there are a lot of questions there. First I'll start with the Quebec issue. As you realize, we have been very active in the BAPE process, which is ongoing right now. A lot of the answer to your question is that we very much support a robust regulatory environment.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chairman, they were not our studies; they were independent, third-party studies. The EPA in the U.S. was the primary author of them. They studied fracture stimulation as early as 1994. In 2004 they put out a study, in 2007 they put out a study, and they're currently undertaking another study whose results will come out in another couple of years.

Natural Resources committee  Absolutely. Shale gas production in North America is a supply-demand phenomenon. That's why the price of gas is down; it's the supply, due to the success of the shale plays in North America. The consumer benefits from the lower costs. But yes, the price is impacted by the cost to develop the resource, or vice versa.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chairman, a couple of things can increase production. First, you're right that the chemistry of shale gas is typically very high in methane, CH4, and that means it's a pure source of energy. Therefore, because it contains very little CO2, typically it is much cleaner burning than other fuel sources, such as coal, for example, and fuel oils.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chairman, right now the regulatory environment in British Columbia is quite robust. That is the place where shale gas is the most evolved in Canada. Alberta would be a close second. They have a long-standing oil and gas extraction industry. They have long-standing regulation of very robust regulatory environments.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chairman, if I could address that, that water we inject is over a mile below where aquifers are, where fresh waters are taken that people use as their drinking source. Once we put it in the ground a mile deep, some of that water, as you mentioned, does not come back. It will stay there, and it will not be part of the aquifer.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chairman, there are two different issues there. There's been not one documented case in North America of frac water getting into an aquifer.

Natural Resources committee  We have been fined in Pennsylvania three times in the last three years a total of $21,000. None of it was for contaminating surface water.