Romania: Chevron Obtains Permit for First Shale Gas Exploration Bore

Chevron has obtained a building permit in Vaslui County for the first shale gas exploration bore in Romania. The company obtained all the necessary permits from authorities for underground prospection works in Silistea perimeter in Pungesti village.

The document allowing the American company to build the first exploration bore in order to ascertain Vaslui County’s hydrocarbons potential was issued after the company filed all requested documents when they issued the zoning permit last winter.

According to the Director of Vaslui County Council’s Urbanism Department, Marian Besliu, “The applying company has fulfilled all the conditions imposed by the zoning permit, including the permit from the National Agency for Energy Resources, thus we could not have denied the building permit. There is no legal basis not to issue this document allowing for the construction of the exploration bore.”

Engineer Dr. Coltoi Octavian, Researcher at the Romanian Geological Institute discussed the event with Natural Gas Europe: “Exploration by drilling is the main or even the primordial method applied in oil evaluation activity for conventional or nonconventional hydrocarbon resources. Its necessity is enforced when signing the licensing agreement or, more precisely, is mentioned as fundamental research method for identification, discovery and comparing existent results. Without drilling the geological activity for exploiting a deposit, regardless of its nature, cannot take place. Depending on the results obtained in this exploration stage, the economic exploitation activity of the deposit will be continued or not.”

Opposition to shale gas in Romania continues as evidenced by comments from George Epurescu from 'Romania without Them': “The fight continues; we were expecting prompt response from the authorities because the entire business is a theft. We fight in the courts of law and in the street.” 

Silviu Molnar