The Polish Environment Ministry says it has authorized U.S. oil company Chevron to explore natural gas deposits in eastern Poland for the next five years.
The ministry said Friday that Poland's chief geologist, Henryk Jacek Jezierski, has signed the deal. It allows the second-largest U.S. oil company to search for shale gas deposits in eastern Poland and assess the difficulty of accessing them-but not to extract the gas. No financial details were released.
Chevron, which is headquartered in San Ramon, California, said Thursday that it was cutting spending next year by 5 percent, compared to 2009, but would concentrate on oil and gas exploration projects.
Other companies exploring for gas in Poland include ExxonMobil, Lane Energy and Marathon Oil.
