Romania to begin production of shale gas no earlier, than in five years, Romanian Premier Viktor Ponta told journalists.
“By that time the authorities must work out the legislation, especially in field of environment protection,” Ponta said. He added that Romania will buy the missing volume of gas – about 20% of needed – from Russian Gasprom company.
The US Chevron Corporation was forced to suspend exploration of shale gas in Vaslui province of Romania, because of the demonstrations of protest of population and environmentalists. They are afraid that drilling works and injection of big volumes of chemicals into the bowels of earth will cause damage to environment. However, the Romanian government believes that shale gas production will become one of the priority directions to ensure energy safety of the country.