European Parliament green lights shale gas extraction
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
22.11.2012 07:30
Poland has welcomed a vote in the European Parliament, which gives individual member states the right to extract shale gas.
Poland’s Minister of State Treasury Mikołaj Budzanowski said that the development of shale gas exploitation is a “chance for the whole of Europe”.
A resolution of the Energy Committee, which says that each member state has the right to decide on whether to exploit shale gas, has been adopted with 492 votes in favour, 129 against and 13 abstentions.
An Environment Committee report drafted by Poland’s MEP Boguslaw Sonik - adopted with 562 votes in favour, 86 against and 43 abstention – says that a ‘thorough analysis’ of EU regulations on the exploitation of unconventional fossil fuels is needed.
An amendment proposing a moratorium on shale gas exploitation has been rejected.
Mr Budzanowski has assured that the exploitation of shale gas in Poland will proceed with full respect for environmental protection standards and the rights of the local population.
According to MEP Bogusław Sonik, the experience of the United States and Canada has shown that present-day shale gas extraction technologies are environmentally safe.
According to the Polish Geological Institute, the country’s recoverable shale-gas reserves amount to 768 billion cubic meters. Treasury Minister Budzanowski said three months ago that Poland will produce “several” billion cubic meters of gas from shale rock by 2020. (mk/pg)