Companies quiver in Quebec after minister's comments

Unsafe: new Quebec natural resources minister believes fracking can never be done safely

Companies looking to develop Quebec's extensive shale reserves were a bit uneasy after comments by the Canadian province's new natural resources minister this week saying she believes hydraulic fracturing cannot be done safely.

Less than 24 hours after being named to her post, Martine Ouellet - newly elected Parti Quebecois premier Pauline Marois choice for natural resources minister - said that she does not "foresee a day when there will be technology that will allow safe production (of shale gas)".

"Our position is very clear on shale gas: we want a complete moratorium, not only on extraction but also on exploration of shale gas. We haven't changed our view," Ouellet was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Quebec, which sits atop the gas-rich Utica and Lorraine shale…

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