New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, will keep a temporary ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for three more months to strengthen standards for the process used to extract natural gas from coal.
The state will extend the moratorium until April from the end of this year to complete an independent review of the health, safety and environmental risks, Chris Hartcher, New South Wales’s resources minister, said in a statement today.
Santos Ltd. (STO) and AGL Energy Ltd. are among companies with coal-seam gas operations in the state. Fracking, which injects water and chemicals into rock formations to free trapped gas, has drawn criticism from environmental groups and politicians who say it may contaminate water supplies.
“We’re proceeding with caution and making sure the proper frameworks are in place,” Hartcher said.
Bloomberg
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