Sofia Echo: Bulgarian Parliament to review shale gas moratorium

Bulgaria's Parliament will form a committee that would amend the wording of a moratorium that effectively banned all oil and gas exploration in the country, but also would investigate whether it was safe to allow shale gas prospecting, Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev said on April 2.

In January, following a series of protest rallies, Parliament passed a moratorium on shale gas exploration that also banned any oil and gas drilling at pressures above 20 atmospheres. This drew immediate criticism from the oil and gas industry because it effectively banned any drilling at depths below 200m.

Some critics went as far as to say that in their rush to score easy popularity points with a public opinion concerned with the use of hydro-fracturing (fracking) technology, the MPs failed to take into consideration the full consequences of the ban.

Among such consequences is the fact that state-owned gas companies Bulgargaz cannot pump any gas into the Chiren gas field, which is used by the country as its main gas storage facility, Dobrev told Bulgarian National Television.  MORE