No Shale Exploration in Romania in 2012

Romanian premier Victor Ponta has said that a decision on shale exploration in Romania will be held off until next year, following the enactment of a moratorium on the activity last month.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Prime Minister Ponta said that serious debate would be given to the subject following impending elections.

"I want to seriously discuss this issue next year, while keeping environment protection in mind, on the one hand, and Romania’s interest in ensuring additional energy resources, on the other hand," he said. "Legitimate environment and business development interests unfortunately got caught up in political campaigning."

Last month, the new government headed by Victor Ponta, said it was planning an immediate moratorium on shale while study was underway on its effects.

Speaking to Natural Gas Europe, Prime Minister Ponta said that "the subject of shale gas is put down in government program which brought the confidence vote of parliament. Quality standards need to be carefully studied; the current government position will not be different from the position that European countries have towards this economic activity."

The government continues to study the effects and benefits of shale explorations, with plans underway to undertake studies into the effects of shale gas exploration together with the US Embassy. Should these and other studies prove that shale is environmentally safe, Romanian Economy Minister Daniel Chitoiu said last month, the moratorium will be lifted.

Currently, the ban on shale activity in the country has ground to a halt work on a shale concession held by Chevron. Chevron was forced to put its shale activity in the country on hold, due to the uncertainty of the legal situation for the activity in Romania in April of this year.