Sofia Globe: Bulgarian Parliament extends term of shale gas committee

Bulgaria’s Parliament decided on October 10 to extend by six months the term of the ad hoc committee tasked with investigating the safety of shale gas exploration.

Committee chairperson Dian Chervenkondev said that the committee needed more time to take in the large amount of documentation amassed after making inquiries about regulatory practices in other European Union countries, US, Canada and Ukraine.

He said that the committee had spent no money since it was set up in April, but it would be useful for the committee members to travel to the US, where shale gas is extracted on large scale, and Poland, where prospecting is under way, in order to get a better picture of the issues.

“There is a lot of theory and many documents, but if you want us to do something right, it would be good to see it on-site. If Parliament decides not to vote a budget, we will go where we’ve gone so far – nowhere,” Chervenkondev was quoted as saying by news website mediapool.bg.  MORE