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Romania has 1,444 billion cu m of shale gas reserves, ranking 3rd in Europe
Romania currently has 1,444 billion cu m of shale gas reserves, ranking third in Europe, after Poland and France, according to official data published on the Website infogazedesist.eu, launched by the National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM) as part of an information campaign and public debate regarding the shale gas.
Following an announcement made by the European Commission's DG Energy in 2012, ANRM, in its capacity as the institution that coordinates drilling and exploration of natural resources in Romania, applied for a grant to organize public debates and carry out information campaigns regarding the shale gas issue.
According to data provided by the institution, late in the same year, following the checking among projects received, the EC DG Energy announced ANMR that its proposal got selected for receiving funding. The campaign will be concluded late this year, with public debates to be organised in Birlad (east) and Dobrogea (southeastern) regions of the country, regions that are of interest when it comes of the shale gas issue.
The debates and the information campaigns are meant to develop a dialogue with the citizens to let them find out more about the drilling and exploration of these natural resources.
Moreover, as part of the same programme, there will be organised a series of activities to provide useful information to people to help them make their own opinions about this issue.
According to official information on the infogazedesist.eu Web page, Romania is currently ranking first in EU by its shale gas reserves, with 1,444 billion cu m.
Poland is the first ranked, with 4,190 billion cu m, followed by France (3,879 cu m), while Denmark is ranking fourth, after Romania, with 906 cu m.
Regarding the recoverable reserves of shale gas, France ranks first (4,700 billion barrels), followed by Poland (3,300 barrels) and the Netherlands (2,900 barrels). Romania ranks sixth, with 300 million barrels.
According to the most recent report of US Energy Information Agency (EIA), released on July 2013, the shale gas contributes with a 47 percent increase in the potential reserves of recoverable natural gas worldwide. Reserves of shale gas worldwide represent 32 percent of the total reserves of natural gas.
The Agency for the Protection of Environment based in Constanta (southeastern Romania, the Black Sea shore) in May made public the decision corresponding to the current stage of works by Chevron Romania Exploration and Production SRL in the case of the Costinesti and Vama Veche perimeters (southeastern Romania), stage that includes seismic prospecting to identify the resources.
The Environment Ministry specified at that, for this stage, there won't be needed an evaluation of the impact on the environment, since the 'exploration is carried out by using classical methods/the wells that have already been drilled in Romania for tens of years'.
Chevron holds the right to prospect the shale gas reserves in three blocks on Romania, covering a total surface of 270,000 hectares (in Costinesti, Vama Veche and Birlad).