French President Nicolas Sarkozy supports the draft bill to ban shale oil and gas extraction and to cancel the exploration permits already granted, daily Le Figaro reports Wednesday, citing comments made by Sarkozy to members of the UMP ruling party Tuesday.

No one at the French presidency was immediately available for comment.

According to a preliminary report published two weeks ago, French shale oil and gas fields are potentially some of the most promising in Europe and banning exploration before the reserves are assessed could be detrimental to France 's economy and labor market.

The report was requested by the government in March, following environmentalist outcry at the government-granted permits to explore shale oil fields in the Paris Basin and shale gas fields in the Southeast of France. A final report is expected by June.

Faced with demonstrations and an intense national debate on potential damage to the environment and water tables from shale extracting techniques, the government recently scrapped the permits and a draft bill to ban all exploration is to be debated at the French national assembly May 10.

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