Last night (Wednesday 21 April) INEOS Upstream, INEOS' new oil and gas exploration and production company which has acquired licenses for over 700 square miles around the central belt, held a community engagement meeting at Alloa Town Hall.

The meeting, which was presented by company director Tom Pickering who was later grilled at a Q&A, saw a turnout of around 30-40 concerned people from Clackmannanshire and beyond. Ahead of the meeting, members of the local Clacks Against Unconventional Gas Extraction (CAUGE) held a peaceful protest outside the building.

At the protest a CAUGE spokesperson told the Advertiser: “We want people to be aware of INEOS' plans, we are very concerned about this whitewash exercise, offering folk money against [what could happen to our environment], we are concerned about the pollution, the infrastructure, the air [quality] and the chemicals [used in fracking].

“What we are particularly upset about is the fact that there is a moratorium at the moment and they've just completely ignored that and they are not giving us time to have the public consultation [by the government].” The spokesperson added that their message for INEOS is: “Frack off!” The town hall meeting kicked-off at 7pm and lasted for two hours. First, Tom Pickering delivered a 30-minute-long presentation, which introduced the company, and aimed to address concerns around the issues of safety, pollution and explained the multinational chemical company's plans for potential shale gas extraction using the controversial fracking technique.

After the presentation, the director was bombarded with questions from the audience. He explained how the Scottish Government has made it clear to the industry that they are going to have to stand up and consult communities regarding their potential plans.

He said: “The first step for us is simply to come out and say we do exist, we are in the local area and we are not going to shy away from explaining why [shale gas extraction] is important to us, not just to INEOS as a business, but why it is important for Scotland.” After one question from the audience Mr Pickering highlighted that their PEDL licenses extend to all forms of oil and gas extraction and did not rule out that they may look to extract coal bed methane (CBM), but said their primary focus is shale gas at the moment. He confirmed that INEOS wouldn't be involved with underground coal gasification (UCG) as the company only looks at techniques that are proven on a commercial scale.

While the director addressed a range of issues, he was unable to answer a variety of specific questions as more research, testing and data is required to address problems at specific sites.

Many questioned whether the company had anything that could guarantee that nothing will go wrong before, during and after extraction. Mr Pickering stressed that everything in people's daily lives involves risks and that the company will do its best to identify and mitigate associated problems.

He also explained that the company would be required to commission independent baseline studies and continually carry out independent measurements to see if there are any negative effects.

A number of people highlighted that in order to stop global warming, countries around the world have to cut down on their CO2 emissions and questioned why INEOS would not look to develop renewables. The director explained that INEOS manufactures and pioneers many of the plastics that are required for renewable technologies and that the extracted gas is not only used to generate energy, it is used as feedstock for the manufacturing industry. He added that the renewables industry is an important customer for INEOS.

He also highlighted how the company invested millions into a bio ethanol project in US Florida.

The general issue seemed to be whether locals would trust the company to carry out the potentially dangerous unconventional gas extraction on a massive scale in the hearth of Scotland with a highly dense population, which relies heavily on its food and drink industry. It remains a question whether the company can earn that trust ahead of drilling in an area which still suffers from the coal industry and the decline of breweries.

After the meeting, the company director told the Advertiser: “There were obviously a lot of difficult questions, people are concerned and they've been researching on the internet. I was really pleased that folk gave me the opportunity to answer the questions. We expect that people want us to hold ourselves to account and answer these questions, which I am happy to do.

“What I am keen to focus on is the facts; what have they learnt in the US, how is the regulatory environment we are bringing [shale gas extraction] to, how can you properly conduct and safely conduct those operations with all of that learning.

“I've described the use of gas; it is in everyday life, it's the fibres we wear, it's plastics – you start to remove all of this stuff in your life - it's central to us. We think it's got a place as a bridging fuel and that is our position.” Today, the CAUGE spokesperson told the Advertiser: “We felt that it was very much just a tick box exercise for INEOS.

“Some people who fielded questions felt their questions weren't answered. Tom just repeated himself and didn't have many of the critical answers, data and information required. Our opinion after last night is that folks who attended will be more distrustful of INEOS than they were before.

“They clearly have made their plans and have no intention of altering, amending or incorporating any of the suggestions put to them by members of the audience.

“It was interesting when the Kincardine members of the audience tried to request INEOS attend debating sessions rather than just turning up to present their own PR machine. [Tom] and INEOS are obviously not interested in debate, only tick a box to say that they have consulted with communities.

“CAUGE members hope to attend some of the other community meetings they have planned over the next week or so just to gauge if they repeat the same stance at each and every meeting - we suspect that's exactly what they will do.” Find more pictures on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153266570661499.1073741894.121514846498&type=1