French president vows no fracking while he is president by Agence France-Presse, July 14, 2013
President Francois Hollande said on Sunday that France would maintain its ban on the exploration for shale gas throughout his five-year term. “As long as I am president, there were will be no exploration for shale gas,” Hollande said during a Bastille Day interview with top television channels. He said the fracking technique used to extract shale gas presented too many “risks to groundwater”. “We can see some consequences in the United States” from the technique, Hollande said. Energy companies have been banned since 2011 from exploiting shale gas in France over fears of environmental risks from the potential air and water pollution involved in fracking. Energy companies have been banned since 2011 from exploiting shale gas in France over fears of environmental risks from the potential air and water pollution involved in fracking.
France’s top court to review law banning shale gas fracking by Marion Douet and Muriel Boselli; editing by Gus Trompiz and Jane Baird, July 12, 2013, Reuters
France’s top court said it would examine a challenge to a law that bans hydraulic fracturing, the drilling technique used to produce shale gas and oil. U.S. firm Schuepbach Energy, which held two exploration permits that were canceled in 2011, has contested the law. The Constitutional Council, made up of judges and former French presidents, has the power to annul laws if they are deemed to be unconstitutional. “It is now up to the Constitutional Council to decide whether the law is constitutional, within three months,” the court said. Schuepbach Energy challenged the law in the local court of Cergy-Pontoise near Paris, which forwarded the case to France’s highest administrative court, which then passed it on the Constitutional Council. Fracking was banned in France in 2011 under President Nicolas Sarkozy on concerns it could pollute groundwater and trigger earthquakes. After France put the ban in place, Schuepbach Energy said it had no alternative way to carry out the exploration, which led to the suspension of its two permits in the south of France. Prime Minister Jean-marc Ayrault on Thursday ruled out any exploration and production of shale gas, after Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg earlier in the week said he was personally in favour of producing shale gas in a clean manner. [Emphasis added]
France’s top court to review law banning shale gas fracking by Marion Douet and Muriel Boselli; editing by Gus Trompiz and Jane Baird, July 12, 2013, Reuters
France’s top court said it would examine a challenge to a law that bans hydraulic fracturing, the drilling technique used to produce shale gas and oil. U.S. firm Schuepbach Energy, which held two exploration permits that were canceled in 2011, has contested the law. The Constitutional Council, made up of judges and former French presidents, has the power to annul laws if they are deemed to be unconstitutional. “It is now up to the Constitutional Council to decide whether the law is constitutional, within three months,” the court said. Schuepbach Energy challenged the law in the local court of Cergy-Pontoise near Paris, which forwarded the case to France’s highest administrative court, which then passed it on the Constitutional Council. Fracking was banned in France in 2011 under President Nicolas Sarkozy on concerns it could pollute groundwater and trigger earthquakes. After France put the ban in place, Schuepbach Energy said it had no alternative way to carry out the exploration, which led to the suspension of its two permits in the south of France. Prime Minister Jean-marc Ayrault on Thursday ruled out any exploration and production of shale gas, after Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg earlier in the week said he was personally in favour of producing shale gas in a clean manner. [Emphasis added]