Gas and oil

Dear Editor,
With all the doom and gloom in the papers, I hate to bring this to your attention, but can anyone tell me what is happening on the Algarve’s great gas and oil debate?
I am aware sundry politicians have spoken out against refineries along the coast – and then been slapped down by their parties and told to keep quiet. And occasionally I get emails from a citizens’ group demanding money to fight gas and oil exploration “or else”. I have to say, these emails go straight into the trash. The group’s tactics need serious polishing, but it would be good to know if anyone is keeping track of events.
Enid Gantry
by email
Editor’s note: Dear Enid, the last we heard was from environmental group Quercus, in the summer, which launched a press release saying they were worried by the fact that exploration was being okayed without the implementation of an environmental impact assessment. Quercus suggested oil and gas exploration would put natural heritage at risk, and that much more transparency was needed – but since then there has been no news.