Portugal ends oil and gas prospection

  • ECO News
  • 7 September 2020

"No more contracts will be awarded for prospecting and researching natural gas or oil," says the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action.

Portugal will no longer grant contracts for prospecting and exploration of natural gas or oil. With the departure of Australis, the government ended the exploitation of polluting fossil fuels at a time when the focus is on renewables.

“No more contracts for prospecting and exploration of natural gas or oil will be awarded,” the official source of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action (MAAC) told to Jornal Económico.

The MAAC’s decision comes after Australis, which came to look for gas and oil in the West and Central areas, decided to terminate the contract. According to the MAAC, it was the company itself that renounced the “Batalha” and “Pombal” concessions, through a letter sent on August 24 to the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology.