France Moves Towards Shale Ban

The French  government has fast tracked the consideration of a bill that proposes to prohibit the exploration and exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbons.

The president of the National Assembly, Bernard Accoyer, has announced that a review of the proposed law brought forth from members of the ruling centre-right UMP party, will take place on May 10.

The emergency procedure agreed to by the government limits parliamentary scrutiny to a single reading by the Assembly and the Senate.

If approved, a ban could be passed before the end of June and would lead to the revocation of drilling permits granted for shale gas exploration to Total SA, GDF Suez, and Schuepbach Energy.

On Friday, Minister for Ecology Nathalie Kosciuko-Morizet expressed  "great reserve" on shale exploration projects.

"Based on what happens in the United States, operating as proposed is not possible."

Opponents to shale gas and shale oil exploration have targeted the hydraulic fracturing process involved in extraction, citing environmental concerns.

The Minister also pointed to the "legal risk", and "the need to compensate" the companies who have obtained the exploration permit should the ban proceed.

Exploration permits were granted for shale gas in March 2010 in southern France and for shale oil in 2008 and 2009 in the Paris basin.

Work on shale gas exploration has originally been suspended pending the findings of assessment report on environmental issues scheduled for release in late May.

Shale oil exploration was restricted to only conventional drilling without the use of hydraulic fracturing.

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