They Drilled Down 2000 feet and found ..... What?
Woodburn Forest
This is an old forest in Northern Ireland. It is part of a water catchment area. The area is woodland, with a right of way for walkers and kept "clean" because it collects rainwater into four reservoirs for local use in Belfast and Carrickfergus. The reservoirs are stocked with fish, so fisherfolk can practise their quiet hobby and there are many species of wildflower and wildlife and insects there, including lots of dragonflies. You ccan read more info about Woodburn Forest here.
Geology
The arrangement of rocks in the area suggests that there may be oil and gas reserves some considerable distance down under ground and the planning regulations were so loosely written that an oil and gas drilling company was able to lease the ground for 50 years without a full public inquiry and risk assessment being needed. 
Public Anger
As you can imagine, there was a lot of public anger at the intrusion into the forest, cutting down trees, the closing of the right of way, assault of members of the public on the right of way by security guards and most of all, the threat to a clean water supply, through possible contamination of the reservoirs. There were a couple of pollution incidents and two of the reservoirs were closed from providing water into the public water supply.
Drilled Down 2000 feet
Despite protests, the company, Infrastrata , managed to install a drill and drilled down 2000 feet. They didn't find any oil or gas - hooray - but they did find something. What? Now this is the Emerald Isle - so called because of the 40 shades of green from rainfall. They found water! 
Other projects
This company has other projects in mind too, close by. They will encounter stiff opposition to these too. One is to store gas in underground caverns. Apparently, everywhere else this has been tried, there have been leaks. I can't imagine how any company can even consider putting gas storage facilities near people's homes, with the risk of poisoning, explosion and fire!
Renewables
Why don't we just go for renewables, instead of wrecking the clean green land we live in? We have plenty of wind, tiday energy and some sunshine. We can also use biogas. There are apparently now more jobs in renewables than in all the fossil fuel companies combined. Let's make this move even faster.
woodburnforest infrastrata letshaverenewables
Image Credit » https://pixabay.com/en/rig-drilling-oil-drill-petroleum-76339/
Comments
Kasman wrote on June 18, 2016, 4:51 PM
I'm not a fan of renewable energy. To supply Britain with enough wind turbines (for example) to cater for all our needs you will find that (1) it would cost a fortune (2) in practical terms it probably isn't possible and (3) we would be tripping over the damned things whenever we went out the door! When you dig deeper into what it really means you will come across all sorts of problems and the 'Rule of Unintended Consequences' keeps rearing its ugly head! If you want to know more then read these articles although I warn you they can be pretty dry reading!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/douglasfraser/2011/05/reality_check_how_many_wind_tu.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9559656/Germanys-wind-power-chaos-should-be-a-warning-to-the-UK.html
and just to show that I'm not completely biased against renewables read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_wind_power
MegL wrote on June 19, 2016, 2:49 AM
Problem is, people want so much. Many of the things oil makes have nothing to do with fuel and energy but is used to create plastic toys, bags and dish washing liquid. People also seem to want 2 or 3 cars, to travel abroad 2 or 3 times a year by plane and to heat their houses to green house levels. There are also other forms of renewable energy besides wind. Wind cannot be used alone anyway, after all the wind isn't constant. We have a number of windmills around here and people who protest against them. Sometimes they are the same people who protest at oil drilling in a water catchment forest. Puzzled.
1Kasman wrote on June 19, 2016, 12:01 PM
The human race is its own worst enemy. In any ecosystem a bloom of one particular organism always spells disaster for that organism (think of lemmings throwing themselves off a cliff) and no-one can deny that humanity has 'bloomed' to the extent that we are destroying the ecosystem which is planet Earth. Every time an organism blooms it is followed by a crash and and I have no confidence in the long-term survival of our species.
MegL wrote on June 19, 2016, 1:15 PM
I agree. Strange, isn't it?
1lookatdesktop wrote on June 23, 2016, 12:30 PM
I hate companies that deliberately destroy natural land and water supplies just out of their greed and power over the rest of us. They do this in Texas. They don't care if they cut down trees, ruin the water supply and scare the residents into leaving their homes. It is as though nobody in a higher office has any way or care of a way to prevent it or they are paid to turn a blind eye. This I believe is the truth of the matter. And from a documentary I was told about, the fracking companies find the natural gas and sell it to China. Talk about defeating the main purpose for providing America with it's own supply of fuel and energy just because it sells for a higher profit in China than it does in the homeland of America. They destroy acres of land and water reserves and instead of providing cheap fuel for the locals here, they sell most of it to China just to turn a high profit. They are selfish and don't have any compassion for us here in the USA. Although they will not admit this to be true.
MegL wrote on June 23, 2016, 3:37 PM
The company doing this in Northern Ireland is an American company, well versed in oil drilling and fracking.
lookatdesktop wrote on June 23, 2016, 4:52 PM
OMG. That figures.