Shale gas in Romania

Last updated

Unconventional Shale gas in Romania has been prospected, licenses were given to several companies, but no exploitation has yet started. The current government led by Victor Ponta supports extraction of shale gas through fracking, but there have been protests against it. Romgaz discovered non-conventional gas resources (including shale gas) in 1994-1995 in Transylvania; however, they were only accidentally exploited. [1]

Contents

Government policy

When the Democratic-Liberal government began supporting shale gas extraction in 2012, the Social-Democratic Party voiced its opposition. In April 2012, a motion of no confidence written by the Social-Democrats led to the fall of the Ungureanu government. The motion of no confidence blamed the government for approving shale gas extraction without an appropriate legislative framework and without any geological studies. [2]

When the Social-Democratic Party took power, its May 2012 party programme proposed the "immediate establishment of a moratorium on shale gas until the studies that are ongoing at European level on the environmental impacts of hydraulic fractionation process". [3]

In June 2012, a proposal by several Vaslui County deputies to ban shale gas extraction through fracking was rejected by the Victor Ponta government, being also rejected by the Senate. [3] Soon after, Ponta announced that the government would re-analyze its position on shale gas. [2] In July 2012, PM Ponta announced that retired general Wesley Clark (who was working for shale gas company BNK Petroleum) would become an adviser of the Romanian government, fueling speculations of a change of policy regarding shale gas and fracking. [2]

Following negotiations with petroleum corporation Chevron in December 2012, Ponta announced in January 2013 a reversal of the policies, saying that shale gas extraction "should be considered as something positive". [2] The first permissions for the exploration of shale gas were given a few days later in January 2013. [2]

Companies involved

Chevron

American corporation Chevron has the rights to extract shale gas from a combined area of 870,000 hectares [4] around Bârlad, as well as from several areas in Dobruja (Adamclisi, Vama Veche and Costinești), under 30-year contracts that can be extended for another 15 years. [5]

The gas extraction rights for the Bârlad area were sold by Frank Timiș's Regal Petroleum to Chevron in 2010 for $25 million. [6] Chevron was given in January 2013 the permission for exploration of shale gas in Bârlad and a few months later, in May 2013, it was also given permission for the exploration of the gas fields along the southern Romanian Black Sea coast. [2] The royalties given to the Romanian state are between 3.5% and 13%, depending on the sizes of the deposits. [5]

The exploratory drillings were supposed to start in October 2013 in Pungești, Vaslui County, however, following protests both in the village and in Bucharest, Chevron decided to suspend its activities. [7] The Pungești local council announced the organization of a non-binding local referendum on the issue. [7]

Protests

Protests against shale gas were held in several major cities including Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Constanța, [8] as well as in the areas where the exploitations will be done, including in the city of Vaslui and the village of Pungești. A small village in Vaslui County became a center of resistance against exploitation of shale gas.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romgaz</span>

Societatea Națională de Gaze Naturale Romgaz SA Mediaș or simply Romgaz is the largest natural gas producer in Romania and one of the largest producers in Eastern Europe. The company is the country's main supplier and responsible for producing around 40% of the total natural gas consumption in Romania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shale gas</span> Natural gas trapped in shale formations

Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some analysts expect that shale gas will greatly expand worldwide energy supply.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pungești</span> Commune in Vaslui, Romania

Pungești is a commune in Vaslui County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It is composed of nine villages: Armășoaia, Cursești-Deal, Cursești-Vale, Hordila, Pungești, Rapșa, Siliștea, Stejaru and Toporăști.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shale gas in the United States</span>

Shale gas in the United States is an available source of unconventional natural gas. Led by new applications of hydraulic fracturing technology and horizontal drilling, development of new sources of shale gas has offset declines in production from conventional gas reservoirs, and has led to major increases in reserves of U.S. natural gas. Largely due to shale gas discoveries, estimated reserves of natural gas in the United States in 2008 were 35% higher than in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shale gas in Canada</span>

The inclusion of unconventional shale gas with conventional gas reserves has caused a sharp increase in estimated recoverable natural gas in Canada. Until the 1990s success of hydraulic fracturing in the Barnett Shales of north Texas, shale gas was classed as "unconventional reserves" and was considered too expensive to recover. There are a number of prospective shale gas deposits in various stages of exploration and exploitation across the country, from British Columbia to Nova Scotia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking</span> Fracturing bedrock by pressurized liquid

Fracking is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of formations in bedrock by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "fracking fluid" into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants hold the fractures open.

Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas produced from shale, a type of sedimentary rock. Shale gas has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States over the past decade, and interest has spread to potential gas shales in Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. One analyst expects shale gas to supply as much as half the natural gas production in North America by 2020.

Frack Off is a grassroots direct action campaign aimed at stopping the extraction of unconventional resources in the UK, specifically concentrating on unconventional gas extraction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaca Muerta</span> Geologic formation in Argentina

The Vaca Muerta Formation, commonly known as Vaca Muerta, is a geologic formation of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age, located in the Neuquén Basin in northern Patagonia, Argentina. It is well known as the host rock for major deposits of shale oil and shale gas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Romanian protests</span> Anti-corruption demonstrations

The 2012 Romanian protests were a series of protests and civil manifestations triggered by the introduction of new health reform legislation. In particular, President Traian Băsescu criticized the Deputy Minister of Health, Raed Arafat, on a Romanian television broadcast. The protests became violent, with both protesters and members of the Gendarmerie sustaining injuries during their clashes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking in the United Kingdom</span>

Fracking in the United Kingdom started in the late 1970s with fracturing of the conventional oil and gas fields near the North Sea. It was used in about 200 British onshore oil and gas wells from the early 1980s. The technique attracted attention after licences use were awarded for onshore shale gas exploration in 2008. The topic received considerable public debate on environmental grounds, with a 2019 high court ruling ultimately banning the process. The two remaining high-volume fracturing wells were supposed to be plugged and decommissioned in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking by country</span>

Fracking has become a contentious environmental and health issue with Tunisia and France banning the practice and a de facto moratorium in place in Quebec (Canada), and some of the states of the US.

Cuadrilla Resources is an oil and gas exploration and production company founded in 2007. It is headquartered in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, and has operations in the United Kingdom. The company intend to develop shale gas in the UK by using hydraulic fracturing. Its chairman is Roy Franklin, who is also deputy chairman of Equinor. Its chief executive is Francis Egan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-fracking movement</span> Environmental activism

The anti-fracking movement is a political movement that seeks to ban the practice of extracting natural gasses from shale rock formations to provide power due to its negative environmental impact. These effects include the contamination of drinking water, disruption of ecosystems, and adverse effects on human and animal health. Additionally, the practice of fracking increases the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, escalating the process of climate change and global warming. An anti-fracking movement has emerged both internationally, with involvement of international environmental organizations, and nation states such as France and locally in affected areas such as Balcombe, Sussex, in the UK. Pungești in Romania, Žygaičiai in Lithuania, and In Salah in Algeria. Through the use of direct action, media, and lobbying, the anti-fracking movement is focused on holding the gas and oil industry accountable for past and potential environmental damage, extracting compensation from and taxation of the industry to mitigate impact, and regulation of gas development and drilling activity.

Shale gas in the United Kingdom has attracted increasing attention since 2007, when unconventional onshore shale gas production was proposed. The first shale gas well in England was drilled in 1875. As of 2013 a number of wells had been drilled, and favourable tax treatment had been offered to shale gas producers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balcombe drilling protest</span> Anti-fracking protest

The Balcombe drilling protest occurred when test drilling and possible fracking for petroleum were proposed in 2012 near Balcombe, a village in West Sussex England. Local residents protested and anti-fracking environmentalists in the UK made it a focus of attention. The drill pad is located in a wooded area known as Lower Stumble Wood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roșia Montană protests</span>

The Roșia Montană Protests were a series of protests in 2013 in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iași and dozens of other cities in Romania and abroad against the Roșia Montană mining project. Protesters said that the mining project would destroy the environment and heritage of Roșia Montană and demanded the withdrawal of a law which would enable this project to commence. In Bucharest, protests were held every evening in the University Square and marches were held each Sunday.

The 2012–2014 Romanian protests against shale gas were a series of protests in major Romanian cities against exploitation of shale gas through controversial method of hydraulic fracturing. The main causes of these protests were the pollution of groundwater and environment, but also the threat of generating earthquakes. The protesters claimed the resignation of Prime Minister Victor Ponta, because he suddenly changed his position on the project. Before the electoral campaign of 2012, he opposed shale drilling, but after he supported it with any risks, on the grounds that Romania's energy independence is a national project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking in South Africa</span>

Fracking in South Africa is an energy production strategy at early stages of development using high-pressure drilling techniques to release natural gas trapped in shale rock. After initially imposing a moratorium on fracking in April 2011, the South African government lifted the moratorium in September 2012 after an initial investigation by an interdepartmental task team. Several energy companies were subsequently granted exploration licenses. Fracking in South Africa is a current topic of debate, with proponents pointing to substantial economic and energy benefits and opponents voicing concerns about potentially adverse environmental impacts.

References

  1. Claudia Pirvoiu (June 18, 2013). "Romgaz a descoperit gaze de sist in urma cu 17 ani si ar putea sa treaca la faza de exploatare dupa anumite evaluari". Hotnews. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Cum s-a schimbat pozitia USL fata de gazele de sist. De la motiune de cenzura pina la idee care trebuie tratata "serios pozitiv"". Hotnews. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Cabinetul Ponta a blocat stoparea exploatărilor de gaze de şist". România Liberă. July 6, 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  4. "Shale Gas Search Divides Romania". New York Times. April 22, 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Trei contracte au fost desecretizate la presiunile SAR si ARC. Asteptam Barladul!". Alianța pentru o Românie Curată. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  6. "Regal Petroleum renunţă la exploatația de la Bârlad". Evenimentul Zilei. 30 September 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Chevron halts east Romania shale gas search after protests". Reuters. October 17, 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.[ dead link ]
  8. "Miting împotriva exploatării gazelor de şist! Vino şi tu! "Aducem sticle cu apă, va fi singura rezervă potabilă!"". Adevărul. April 26, 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2013.