The final decision will be made by the government.

“The commission has decided to recommend to the government to name Chevron the winner,” Daiva Matonienė, Deputy Environment Minister and the commission’s chairwoman, told reporters after the panel’s meeting on Monday.

The company had met all terms and conditions of the tender, she said adding that the commission had no legal reasons not to name Chevron the winner of the tender.

Postponing the commission’s decision was advantageous as it allowed time for adjusting the legal base governing shale gas, Matonienė said.

“I think the situation today is probably even better, since Lithuania is actually one of the European Union’s (EU) countries that have tightened the entire regulation finely and we have really taken numerous legal measures,” she said adding that, for example, Chevron would be obliged to disclose the chemicals used during shale gas extraction.

Meanwhile, Jonas Satkūnas, acting director of Lithuania’s Geological Service, said that it was more likely to discover shale oil, and not shale gas, in Lithuania. He admitted that the investor might not even produce either shale gas or oil as it would be too costly.

An official proposal by the commission to name Chevron the winner of the tender would be submitted to the government in five days, Matonienė said. Moreover, Chevron would have thirty days to pay a contribution to the budget and ninety days to sign the agreement.

Gilbert Ankenbauer, the CEO of Chevron Exploration & Production Lietuva, Chevron‘s Lithuanian subsidiary, said earlier this year that following the tightening of the shale gas exploration and production procedures, the search for shale gas might require more investment from the US company and would take more time. In line with tender conditions, the company will have to invest at least 80 million litas (EUR 23.2m).

Lithuania‘s legislation, which was amended by the Seimas (parliament) in late May, sets the regulatory framework for shale gas exploration and extraction in the country.

Chevron will explore for shale gas and oil in the 1,800-square-kilometer Šilutė-Tauragė field in Western Lithuania.

Opponents to sue

Meanwhile the local community of Žygaičiai, which has been the most local opponent of shale gas exploration in Lithuania, saying that this poses threat to drinking water resources, intimates it might turn to court.

BFL/Vyginto Skaraičio nuotr./Jonas Nairanauskas

"I see this as a very bad move," Žygaičiai community representative Jonas Nairanauskas tells 15min in comment on the Environment Ministry commission's decision.

"It opens the gate to the depths of our land to the company. Of course, we have to acquaint ourselves with the situation, to explain everything to people. And this leads straight to court," Nairanauskas explains.

According to him, one of the bases for litigation might be the alleged pressuring by politicians: "The political council, and later the prime minister, kept saying from the very start that Chevron would be named the winner in this tender. That is to be interpreted as political pressure upon the commission members who must have caved in and adopted this decision. There was a lot of intimidation, the head of the Geological Service was removed from his post."

The Žygaičiai community might go to court for other reasons as well. Nairanauskas says he intends to consult lawyers: "And they will show us the possible avenues and give advice."