Chevron committed to Romanian shale

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BUCHAREST, Romania, March 22 (UPI) -- Chevron aims to help the Romanian government allay concerns on shale natural gas development after the government lifted a ban, a company spokesman said.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced the government ended a ban on shale exploration in an effort to gain more energy independence from Russia, Bloomberg News reported.

Chevron began a shale gas exploration campaign in Romania in 2010 and completed seismic programs in 2011 before a ban was enacted last year.

A Chevron spokesman told energy reporting website Rigzone the company would work with the government to allay concerns about shale natural gas development.

Critics of hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking, have expressed concerns over environmental issues ranging from groundwater contamination to land reclamation.

It may take as long as five years before the government can make an educated assessment of the reserve potential, Bloomberg added this week.

Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz last year approached companies in Germany, Romania and Turkey to reduce the amount of natural gas imported from Russia.

The European Commission in 2012 launched an anti-trust probe into Russian energy company Gazprom's business activities in Eastern Europe.