S. Africa Allows Exploration of Fifth-Biggest Shale Deposits
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South Africa, which has the world’s fifth-largest shale-gas resources, lifted a moratorium on the exploration of natural gas trapped in rock, the mines ministry said.
The government imposed a ban last year on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, while it studied the environmental repercussions of allowing companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. and Bundu Oil & Gas (Pty) Ltd. to employ the practice. Fracking, which involves blasting water mixed with sand and chemicals underground to free trapped hydrocarbons from shale formations, has been banned in France.