Romanian citizens refuse to have shale gas reserves mined

Protesters in Romania have turned out to stop corporations from mining their shale gas reserves and stop hydraulic fracking.

The Romanian village of Pungesti, in a hilly region to the east of the country, is thought to be sitting on vast reserves of shale gas.

US energy company Chevron is hoping to exploit it, however locals in the village are against this.

Reuters reported that locals would rather be worse off economically than risk damaging their environment.

It is feared that drilling for shale gas could pollute the area's water supply and may cause earthquakes, although Chevron has argued that its activities would be safe.

Nevertheless, Chevron suspended its operations after several hundred people turned out to block staff access to equipment to a site where it has been planning to drill an exploration well.

Following this, demonstrations moved to Bucharest, where several thousand people turned out to call for a ban on fracking.

There is debate within Romania about whether exploiting shale gas could aid in helping the country supply its energy independently.

It is also hoped that exploiting shale gas reserves within Romania could help to create jobs and lower the cost of gas, as has been seen in the US.

However, US vice president Joe Biden warned Romanian officials that some companies, particularly smaller firms with a weak financial standing, may be tempted to ignore environmental safety measures with a view to making money more quickly.

In Pungesti, locals generally live off subsistence farming, social aid and money from relatives who find work abroad. One protester, Doina Dediu, told Reuters that they have plenty of foodstuffs that are locally produced and that Pungesti locals aren't as poor as thought. Additionally, Ms Dediu indicated that people from the area would prefer to have their health and clean water than make more money.

Elsewhere in Europe, France has implemented a total ban on the exploitation of shale gas due to ecological fears, while Germany is considering its position on the matter and the UK is in support of mining this resource.