>I don't think there is anything we haven’t heard before.

You are quite right in that regard Lanman. In the last year or so, you and I have read this message in various ultra right wing blogs or the publications of the extra right wing factions. Rush Limbaugh would be proud of them :) Dirtyboots, this one must warm your heart.

This one is a beauty:

"The task is about as difficult as finding a pin in the pincushion."

http://www.hirturmix.hu/article.php?...

The Makó gas field could make Hungary rich - but (this one too) the politicians squandered it away...

2009. April 04., Saturday, 14:30:00

Near Makó, deep underground in the Hungarian Great Plain, foreign professional explorers have stumbled onto a large gas field; this gas field could provide Hungary with gas for forty years. Or, considering the current difficult times, an intensive, shortened twenty-year exploitation period could provide the much needed income to the Hungarian state treasury. Just in 5-10 years, the standard of living of Hungarians could be raised to the level of those in Austria, and in 20 years time, thanks to this rich resource, the Hungarian economy could join the ranks of those richer European Countries.

This certainly not an exaggeration. Most informed people knew about the rich resources hidden deep in the Alföld (Great Plain) - oil, gas, thermal water – you just have to find it, and it is not that difficult, only a drill and some patience is required. The task is about as difficult as finding a pin in the pincushion. The Falcon Oil, the Canadian-based company has been able to find it – according to their own claim – it took them a year to look for it, but they found the right pin, the 600 billion cubic meters “gas container” below, six kilometers deep underground. The company - no one knows how and for how much - received a 35-year exclusive rights for exploration from the Hungarian state, what is more astounding that they also got the rights for the extraction and the sale of the gas. In exchange, the Hungarian state only gets the modest 12% in mining royalties; essentially the Hungarian state gave a gift of 88% of the resources to Falcon Oil. How much money are we talking about? From this gas resource, Hungary could pay off to the last penny the entire Hungarian public debt, which in turn would amazingly strengthen the Hungarian economy. In addition, the tightening measures could be suspended, pensions and wages could be raised, and measures to stimulate the economy could be initiated. This is a lot of money, which appears to be almost entirely going to someone else. It does not need to be so. The Hungarian laws are aware of the concept of strikingly disproportionate contracts. Such contracts can be challenged, and as long as the law ruled in Hungary, the courts annulled these types of contracts. Behold, here is the great historical moment, the great common goal, along with the country to find the common ground between opposing forces. No one disputes the right of foreign investors with a decent profit, but no one can accept the benefits of unfair enforcement. We knew that treasures lay deep in the land of Hungary, we are welcoming adventurous entrepreneurs in our country, but it is the state’s responsibility to ensure that the exploitation of the country’s resources is in the best interest of the country and its people. Hungary is not Rhodesia, and it is not the XIX century. The Gyurcsány-government still did not tell us the content of this contract. However, things are already in progress, and this is the point where it must be stopped. The Mako gas recourse extraction should not be done in the current conditions. The people should not watch passively this exploitation. The historical decline and the collective idiocy at this point should end. Just because unscrupulous criminals for their own personal gain, little by little are selling off the country’s resources, we should not give up everything, rather fight for what is worth to fight for. The country’s exploitation cannot be in the best of interest for the Hungarian large capitalists either. You can look at the Croatians for example. They are not giving any concession to 35 years or a shorter period to the Falcon's Oil or anyone else on the Adriatic. Rather, they built roads, for the convenience of the tourists, so they can get to the Adriatic faster.

Take note: the rig that was used to drill in the Mako, the clever Canadians were renting it from the Croatians. The Carpathian Basin secret, privatized gas fields, according to its geological history are Europe's largest source of natural gas. The Hajduszoboszlo gas storage "located in a depth of 940-1000 m, 44 m average zone, 5 billion cubic meters geological storage, Lower-Pannonian sandstone is one of the largest storage, the original reservoir extraction was started in 1962. In the planned III. expansion phase, the initial criterion was that in the event of the 70% extraction of the mobile gas, the storage systems would be suitable for the nearly 20 million cubic meters / day to meet peak demand. Zsana’s capacity is increased to 2.5 million cubic meters per day, and it can sufficiently supply two of the major cities, Pécs and Debrecen, on a cold winter day. It is hoped that the Mako trough can supply Hungary with natural gas at least 100-year. In Hungary, the greatest depth was recorded at 5842.5 meters at Hódmezővásárhely. When Ascent Resources has notified the London Stock Exchange about their gas discovery in Hungary, the British exploration company's shares jumped16 percent. The company’ announced its Penészlek sampling results. And do not let anyone make you believe that the Makó trough is the only gas deposits in Hungary. Bihar was whispered, Zala, Somogy, Bacs fields, and if we are linking them as a single giant gas basin, then the value of is inestimable. The Falcon's website has recently said that the independent studies of the domestic gas resources has been so great that it could be more than satisfy the whole country's annual consumption, and export to other countries.

In Hungary, presently there are 11 companies with 210 license exploring for hydrocarbons. Mol Nyrt. alone has more than 100 license to explore in the country. Hungary’s daily consumption is between 70-90 million cubic meters per day in the winter months, out of this 40 million cubic meters are imported – said Peter Kiss minister, Janos Zsuga added: the countries daily needs are 44-46 million cubic meters, the under ground storage can provide 51 million cubic meters per day. From Russia, we get the same amount of gas all year around, therefore in the summer time the surplus gas pumped into the underground storage by MOL. Of course in the winter time, the gas is extracted from the storage.