Bulgaria's Parliament decided to partially lift the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in natural gas and oil exploration and extraction.
The moratorium is only lifted as far as conventional gas extraction is concerned, Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev pointed out. The use of the hydraulic fracturing technology is still banned for shale gas activities.
"The extraction of local gas is 40% cheaper. I hope that you support this text, since it would be a clear message that we want reasonable gas prices and energy independence. The ban in the moratorium is perfectly clear. Points 2 and 3 show that shale gas research and extraction are banned," Dobrev told the Bulgarian Parliament, Novinite.com reports.