“We approve of exploration works, of these works to be done,” Valdemaras Razumas, President of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences (LAS), said on Wednesday as he informed members of the parliamentary Energy Commission about the preliminary opinion of scientists charged with drafting the report.
A strategic environmental impact assessment should be carried out before the launch of shale gas exploration, he said.
Parliamentary Committees on Environment Protection and Economics will submit their opinion to the government next week after studying findings provided by the scientists. Then the Cabinet will decide whether to allow US energy giant Chevron to explore for shale gas in Western Lithuania.
Lithuanian scientists believe that between 30 and 50 billion cubic meters of shale gas could be extracted in the country. Last year, Lithuania imported more than 3 billion cubic meters from the Russian gas company Gazprom.
