Romanians furious about fracking

Protest about fracking still rages in the US and has had a preliminary outburst in Britain, but now it is raging in Romania. In 2010, Chevron Romania obtained concessions for drilling in three onshore blocks in the Dobrogea area in southeast Romania. They border the Black Sea and cover approximately 2,700 sq km.

Chevron’s own website says it began establishing ‘a business presence’ in the capital, Bucharest’ in 2011, then goes on to say with some indignation that Chevron workers were sent to drill the company’s first test well, but were turned back by protests.

Romania’s government sold Chevron the rights to frack the shale beneath more than a million acres of Romania, but residents are worried about the environmental consequences. They accuse Prime Minister Victor Ponta of breaking an election promise to block drilling for shale gas.

Agence France-Presse gives more detail on the protests near the village of Pungesti. ‘The convoy was forced to turn around as protesters, some of whom had come in horse-drawn carts, called on Chevron to “go home”. One of the villagers, Gheorghe Hrum, a retired forest warden, said, ‘We will not let them drill here if we must die for this.’ He added, ‘They came with policemen and bodyguards to scare us but all we want is to be left alone, even if we are poor.’