Germany Plans to Stop Short of Ban on Shale Gas

Germany is unlikely to pass a ban on fracking any time soon, Reuters wrote on Thursday. 

‘Germany's government plans to stop short of an outright ban on the controversial technique of fracking for gas, bowing to pressure from industry, according to the latest draft of a law from the environment ministry seen by Reuters,’ the news agency reported. 

The rising German oil and gas industry put pressure on the government. Earlier this year, former European Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger openly embraced possible developments of shale gas reserves in the country.  

Oettinger appealed to Berlin to keep its options open for the development of its shale gas reserves, despite the words of Germany’s Environment and Economic Ministers. In October, the two ministers said that the proposed regulations would have been “the strictest that ever existed in this respect.”