Enough for 100 years? – Secrecy is abundant around the Mako gas field.

There is gas under Mako; still we do not know whether it is economical. Right now, everyone is silent about the resource that made such sensational news two years ago. Chances are that it will not solve Hungary’s energy problems, and if this program succeeds, the earliest production will start in 2012. The Heti Válasz has been at the site, they have found only a locked up gas well, and when they approached the new drilling site, they were barred by a barricade.

As per the contract agreement we have signed with Mol, we are not able make any comment about the work being done in the Mako area – no matter how cleverly we tried to question the employees of TXM Olaj- és Gázkutató Kft the first company to exploit the Mako resource.

The secrecy is understandable, since the company and its parent company the Canadian Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. has spent more than 39 billion Forint so far to map the gas resource under the Mako trough, and even now it is still unknown whether it is economical.

We thought, why not get a look how the experts are doing their work to free the gas from the ground. Simultaneously two wells being drilled between Mako and Hódmezõvás&... near Óföldeák. Trying to avoid the huge potholes that pepper the road to this tiny village with population less than 500. The village cannot support their livelihood, most of the folks here travel to Hódmezõvás&... or to Mako’s industrial park to make a living. At lunchtime we stopped by Zöld Fa the local pub, we found six of the town folks around the tables. There is a hand written note on the wall, advertising cheap firewood.

The gas is not the foremost subject around town, rather some of the inconvenience caused by the activities. “They have erected the drilling tower in December and it is lighted up like Christmas three”- said the pub owner. “It is blinding when you are driving home at night”

The men - with the pessimism that is typical of the people that live on the Great Hungarian Plain – are saying that they will not benefit from the gas under their feet. The only folks will benefit from these activities are the ones own the land where the wells are drilled. They are not yet preoccupied with the tax income possibilities for the town, and the job opportunities did not materialized either, there was only one position filled from the town by János bácsi as a security guard. “But he is not working there anymore” finishing their talk by turning back to the TV to watch a C category film.

Leaving town, we can see the work area from a good distance away, but before we can get there, we have come across a TXM well from earlier times on a leveled land, only a gas pipe with valves atop on it, and next to the valves thick pipes disappearing into the ground. The valves are locked with a shining chain, the gauge showing zero pressure. In the distance one kilometer away, just barely, we can see the drilling tower in the fog.

On the drilling site, workers are working feverishly, monotone noise coming from the rig. Warning signs at the entrance warns about dangers on the site, possible gas leakage and deadly H2S. Smoking and use of mobile phone is prohibited.