Chevron suspends shale gas exploration plan in Romanian village after protest

Activists protesting against Chevron's plan to drill for shale gas in Pungesti, Romania, on Saturday. Photograph: Bogdan Cristel/Reuters

Energy company Chevron has been forced to suspend its plans to drill an exploration well for shale gas in the village of Pungesti in eastern Romania after the local community blocked the company's trucks from entering the area.

For four days last week many of the village's inhabitants, most of whom are elderly farmers, occupied the road leading into the fields earmarked for Chevron's construction site. Settling in for the long haul, they erected makeshift tents while those who had arrived by cart let their horses graze in the field.

The protests at Pungesti, a deeply religious area of Romania, have had the backing of Orthodox priests since the beginning and, as villagers kneeled in the road chanting prayers and demands, the protests promised to be peaceful.

More on : http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/21/chevron-shale-gas-exploration-omanian-pungesti