South Africa Lifts Freeze on Shale Gas Exploration

'The moratorium has been lifted because cabinet is satisfied that with the information now at hand...they will be able to say this is how these issues are going to be mitigated,' Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane said.

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In a move condemned by environmentalists who fear that controversial fracking will pollute scarce water sources, South Africa on Friday said it was lifting a freeze on shale gas exploration.

The country's cabinet approved the lifting of a moratorium set down last year on applications to explore for gas while a team probed the effects of hydraulic fracturing drilling known as fracking.

"The moratorium has been lifted because cabinet is satisfied that with the information now at hand...they will be able to say this is how these issues are going to be mitigated," Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane said.

Shell is among several companies wanting to explore for commercially feasible shale gas in the vast semi-desert Karoo which may have one of the largest untapped deposits in the world.

The use of fracking, which blasts a mix of water, sand and chemicals into hard rock to release gas locked inside, has sparked a backlash over environmental fears of water contamination.

"Fracking is just another bad fossil fuel dead end," said Greenpeace.

"Greenpeace condemns the lifting of the moratorium on fracking, particularly given the potential impacts on scarce water resources and substantial renewable energy alternatives."

Shell wants to explore in area of around 90,000 square kilometers, while another company Falcon Oil & Gas is eyeing an area that is one and a half times the size of the famed Kruger National Park wildlife reserve.

Source: http://feeds.penton.com/~r/IWNews/~3/CHfwftihOr4/south-africa-lifts-freeze-shale-gas-exploration

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