French energy minister Nicolas Hulot said on June 23 the government planned to present a draft law this autumn that would stop granting licenses for oil and gas exploitation in France and overseas territories.

“There will be no new license granted for exploration of hydrocarbons. We will pass the law this autumn," Hulot said on his Twitter account following an interview on BFM-TV.

Hulot, an environmental campaigner before he became a minister in May, also said diesel and petrol taxes would converge in the not-too-distant future, as laid out in plans by the previous Socialist government.