Berlin, September 3 (QNA) - The German government approved Wednesday a draft law banning oil and gas extraction in six offshore areas along the North and Baltic Seas.

German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider, whose ministry submitted the draft law, said that protecting marine nature and abandoning the use of fossil fuels were incompatible with oil and gas drilling.

The draft law still needs to be approved by the German parliament.

It is worth noting that Germany's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the marine area outside its coastal waters, includes six protected areas with a total area of ​​approximately 10,000 square kilometers, including areas west of Sylt and in the Gulf of Pomerania.

Restrictions on commercial fishing are already in place there.

According to the federal government's draft law, exploration and extraction of mineral resources there will be limited primarily to sand and gravel extraction, and oil and gas extraction will be permitted only in limited exceptional circumstances.

The ban does not include the Dutch company One-Diaas' planned gas extraction project northwest of the island of Borkum in the North Sea.

The gas field lies entirely within the coastal waters of Lower Saxony and is therefore not affected by the EEZ ban. (QNA)