Chevron starts shale gas exploration activity in Romania despite some local protests

Oil and gas company Chevron has re-started its exploration operations for shale gas in North – Eastern Romania, at Pungesti, around a month after pulling their equipment from the site in the face of local protests.

Villagers again protested Chevron's activity, with several protesters taken by the gendarmes, as the company began building the road which will connect the exploration site, located on a plot near the village of Silistea in the Pungesti commune.

Around 30 people demonstrated near the site with some of them taken into custody for hostile behaviour, while the Gendarmes blocked access to the area to allow Chevron to start its activities there.

Chevron underlined in an official statement that it will undergo exploration activities only, using conventional technologies, according to the permits it received in October 2013.

In the beginning of October, Chevron obtained the permits to build its first exploration well for shale gas in Vaslui county, at Pungesti, with all other permits in place. In mid-October, however, the villagers from Pungesti protested against the company's plans for several days in a row. The American company decided to withdraw its equipment and pursue the communication strategy instead. The protests against exploration for shale case was triggered by concerns that exploration would be harmful to the environment, and coincided with protests against gold mining in Central Romania, at Rosia Montana, where the planned used of cyanide also caused concern. editor@romania-insider.com