France: Fracking Debate Continues to Percolate
Le Figaro reports that the French government is considering the creation of a commission to examine the conditions to permit the experimental use of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas and shale oil extraction.
The approved experimental use of the process is not precluded by the legislation presently in place banning the use hydraulic fracturing.
We’re hoping this tiny little door won’t be closed,” Jean-Louis Schilansky, head of Paris-based Union Francaise des Industries Petrolieres or UFIP, told Bloomberg. “This could help get past the terrible controversy that has developed over shale in France.”
Comments by government ministers have brought unconventional resource extraction back into public view since the election of Presinet Francois Hollande this past May.
In July, the Minister of Industrial Renewal, Arnaud Montebourg, raised the possibility that the existing ban may be open to review.
“It’s not a banned subject,” commented Montebourg. “We must confront it. For the moment, there is no government position.”
The exploration and development of France’s significant unconventional oil and gas resources could potentially provide access to lower costs, aiding the industrial sector Montebourg is tasked with reviving.
However, Delphine Batho, the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, was quick to state that "the government will not reconsider the ban on hydraulic fracturing."
The French parliament passed a law last year banning the process of fracking because of uncertainties about the consequences for the environment and health.
The move impacted shale gas and shale oil development plans by companies including Total SA and Hess Corp.
The Chief Executive Officer of Total has said that France should have the “courage” to explore for shale gas. Christophe de Margerie said that concerns about environmental issues related to the extraction of the unconventional resources “would have to be addressed as we go along.”
Fracking and unconventional resource development will be on the agenda at a major conference on France's energy future on September 14-15.