An oil and gas industry group says activists calling for better legal protections for the Channel Country are relying on discredited claims from the US to support a "dishonest scare campaign".
A report released by the Western Rivers Alliance (WRA) on Thursday sought to highlight the risks of unconventional gas mining in the Queensland region by analysing research from overseas.
The group claimed shale gas, which is extracted from layers of shale rocks, is "not worth the risk" given some research shows 8.9 per cent of newly-drilled wells fail.
It cited Professor Tony Ingraffea who claims that 60 per cent of wells will fail over 20 years and eventually 100 per cent will fail.
APPEA Chief Executive Dr Malcolm Roberts said the report relied upon discredited claims.
"There are many thorough, independent and expert scientific studies into shale gas," he said.
"The report is none of those things.
"It is a scrapbook of recycled US activist material."
Dr Roberts dismissed the 60 per cent figure as "simply wrong" and said the activists had been selective in their use of quotes.
"People wanting to learn more about shale gas should read studies produced by genuine, independent experts such as the Australian Council of Learned Academies," he said.
APPEA said the oil and gas industry had operated safely in the Cooper basing for more than 50 years.
The WRA report said scientists did not know enough about the health risks of groundwater pollution because of the "rapid expansion of unconventional oil and gas development".
