Chevron’s activities in Romania have been met with strong local opposition. Photo by EPA/BGNES

US energy giant Chevron is quitting shale gas exploration in Romania after prolonged anti-fracking protests.

Romania was the last shale gas project of Chevron in Europe.

Last month Chevron made clear that it was suspending shale gas exploration activities in Poland, while last year the company terminated this type of activity in Lithuania and Ukraine.

“That leaves Romania, where we are in the process of relinquishing our concession interests,” a Chevron Spokesman was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal.

The representative of the US energy giant did not specify the reasons for the decision to withdraw from Romania.

The company is yet to make an official announcement about leaving Romania, where it holds four shale concessions.

The move was welcomed by local anti-fracking activists, who warned, however, that there were a number of companies that still had valid permits.

In end-January, Chevron, the second largest energy company in the US, declared that it would spend USD 35 D on capital and exploratory investments in 2015, down by 13% from 2014.