Well, well, well...

Metgasco CEO Peter Henderson at the Corella 11 pilot well near Casino.

Metgasco CEO Peter Henderson has told the NSW Upper House Inquiry into CSG that 500 wells would be needed on the North Coast to meet expected demand.

After questioning from Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham about how many wells the company had planned for the North Coast region, Mr Henderson said that "500 wells would be in a reasonable range".

However Mr Buckingham, who is the deputy chair of the CSG Inquiry, said the figure could be a lot higher.

"What we've done (to estimate the number of wells required) is to look at similar pipelines and proposals in NSW and interstate and we think you'd have to get up towards 1000 to make the Lions Way pipeline feasible," he said. "Metgasco had to come clean under oath at the Upper House Inquiry. They've said 500, we think 1000. It's a moving feast...Wells last 15 years, the life of the pipeline might be 30-35 years, so there might be 500-1000 wells at any one time and 5000 wells over the life of the project.

"That's the way the industry operates, it has to be continually developing new gas resources. Metgasco should be up front where the wells are going to go, where the gas fields will be and where the pipeline will go so the community can make informed decisions."

Mr Henderson said the figures were "very rubbery" because the number of wells required would depend on the size of the market, the productivity of each well and the ability to 'drain' an area of gas.

"We have been reluctant to speculate on the number of wells for commercial reasons, but also because once you quote a figure, it becomes gospel," he said. "We've still got a lot to learn about well productivity... By using lateral wells (horizontal drilling) we can get to a number of different locations (from one site)."

Mr Henderson said Metgasco had one million acres under its exploration licences and less than 2% of the land area would have wells.

"We're aware of the need to minimise our footprint and are working to do so. The number of wells does not need to have a huge impact on the community and can co-exist with other land uses."

He said Metgasco had signed land use agreements with around 300 landholders in the region.

Mr Buckingham said the community wants more transparency.

"For him to say it's only 2%, well whose 2% is it? The community wants to know and some people don't want them at all and it's their right to know what's on the table," he said.