Hydraulic fracturing

US energy giant Chevron has obtained a new permit by Romania which allows it to look for shale gas in a fifth potential deposit.

Chevron could now start drilling in Urdes, a village that lies in the eastern district of Vaslui, Dnevnik.bg has reported, citing reports by Romania's Mediafax.

US multinational Chevron has announced it will begin in weeks its search for shale gas near the village of Pungesti in Eastern Romania, a day after mass environmental protests.

Drilling for gas will last 90 days, company officials were quoted by BalkanInsight as saying.

“Romania is my country, Chevron will never poison it,” was one of the slogans chanted by protesters who rallied in Pungesti, a village in eastern Romania on Tuesday, who also booed US company officials and journalists when they entered the site where Chevron is to start exploration for shale gas.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Romania in a protest against plans by US energy giant Chevron to drill for shale gas, Sunday.

"Hydraulic fractures never heal," the protesters claimed regarding the drilling method used to unlock shale gas, Balkans.com reported.

Britain urgently needs shale gas to reduce energy dependence from Russia, its PM David Cameron said Wednesday.

The Guardian quotes him as saying that the country has a duty to step up gas production.

Cameron described Ukraine's crisis as a "wake up call" for the possible repercussions that reliance on Russian gas could have on Europe.