Shale gas drilling likely to be banned in France | EurActiv

Shale gas drilling likely to be banned in France | EurActiv.

Shale gas drilling likely to be banned in France
Published: 12 April 2011

The French government has backed a draft bill that would ban shale gas
drilling in the country, citing fears that the extraction method is a
risk to water quality. However, for other countries like Poland, shale
gas has become a national priority to win independence from Russian
imports. EurActiv France reports.

MPs from the ruling centre-right UMP party tabled the bill in the
National Assembly using an accelerated procedure. As a result, it will
only be examined in a single reading in the Assembly and the Senate.

If adopted, the text would suspend drilling permits granted in March
2010 to Total, GDF Suez, and Schuepbach Energy by former Environment
Minister Jean-Louis Borloo.

A shale gas drilling ban is also supported by the opposition Socialist
Party, which presented its own alternative text with the same aim.

In March, the French government had prolonged a moratorium on shale
gas drilling until June.

This had followed protests opposing the drilling method, notably in
the village of Villeneuve-de-Berg in southern France, with over 20,000
people voicing their opposition chanting “No gazaran!” Shale gas
drilling near the town had been planned for the end of 2011.

Scientists relieved, oil business fears red tape

After the announcement of the suspension of drilling, researchers at
the hydro-science centre at the University of Montpellier said they
were reassured. In the event of shale gas drilling, Montpellier’s
region “and all the water reserves close to the drilling area would
have been seriously threatened,” said researcher Françoise Elbaz.

“There is always a technological risk. In going back up, the drill can
release toxic gases such as the radioelements naturally contained in
the rocks,” she said. “And the authorities would have to cut off the
water supply.”

No such drilling has yet taken place in France, but researchers cite
the example of the city of Pittsburgh in the United States. Elbaz says
that following the use of chemicals to fracture the rock and ensure
permeability, the waters of the city have reached a salinity level
inappropriate for consumption.

During a presentation of his company’s annual results last February,
the director-general of Total, Christophe Margerie, said he was
“annoyed by the noise” surrounding shale gas. He expressed frustration
with excessive concern about the safety of drilling, saying “it’s good
to talk about the problems this can pose – if one day there are some –
but today, there are none”.

Margerie also raised fears that red tape could hinder production.
“[If] we need to ask the authorisation to one day ask for
authorisation, we’re going to start falling into useless paperwork,”
he said.

EU to assess shale gas potential in Europe

If the law is passed, the French debate on shale gas should be closed,
but the discussion continues at the European level.

Last February, European leaders agreed that “Europe’s potential for
sustainable extraction and use of conventional and unconventional
(e.g. shale gas, oil shale) fossil fuel resources should be assessed”.

A report by the consultancy firm McKinsey – commissioned by major gas
giants Gazprom, Centrica and others – claimed that shale gas could
meet the continent’s energy needs for 30 years.

Cuadrilla Resources, a British energy company, has begun exploratory
drilling near Blackpool, Lancashire. Drilling of shale gas is already
taking place near Gdansk, Poland.

For certain European countries, Poland in the lead, the drilling of
shale gas is seen as an alternative to Russian gas, which would allow
for greater energy independence.