Quebec puts moratorium on fracing
Two-year ban on Utica shale drilling
QUEBEC has put a two-year freeze on new hydraulic fracturing (fracing) in its Utica shale-gas play to allow for an evaluation of the unknown hazards of fracing and the waste water it generates. The Canadian province’s environment minister, Pierre Arcand, took the action immediately after receiving a 323-page report compiled over the past six months by Quebec’s environmental review agency that argued scientific evidence on fracing is “insufficient or nonexistent”. But Arcand did not go along with imposing the moratorium sought in a petition signed by 128,000 residents in the Utica fairway, which extends along the banks of the St Lawrence Lowlands between Montreal and Quebec City, where foreca
Also in this section
8 December 2025
The Caribbean country’s role in the global oil market is significantly diminished, but disruptions caused by outright conflict would still have implications for US Gulf Coast refineries
5 December 2025
Mistaken assumptions around an oil bull run that never happened are a warning over the talk of a supply glut
4 December 2025
Time is running out for Lukoil and Rosneft to divest international assets that will be mostly rendered useless to them when the US sanctions deadline arrives in mid-December
3 December 2025
Aramco’s pursuit of $30b in US gas partnerships marks a strategic pivot. The US gains capital and certainty; Saudi Arabia gains access, flexibility and a new export future
