Despite a poll showing that more than three-quarters of Quebecers want the province to stop shale gas exploration until environmental impact studies are completed, exploration will continue, provincial Environment Minister Pierre Arcand says.

Quebec's environmental watchdog, the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement, has just completed a first round of public hearings on the environmental impact of natural gas extraction from the Utica Shale in the St. Lawrence Lowlands.

A second round of hearings is to begin Nov. 15. A report is to be submitted to the minister in early February.

"Some companies have decided to halt their exploration while the BAPE does its work. Others are continuing, but there will be no exploitation before 2014," Arcand told reporters yesterday.

"My principal concern is to ensure, on the environmental front, that we do everything possible to ensure we have the laws and a superior inspection process to ensure the public is protected as much as possible," he said.

His department's inspection process at exploratory drilling sites has intensified in recent months, Arcand noted, and no problems have been detected.

"The government has a game plan, and the game plan involves several steps that started in 2007 ... and will take until 2014 to bring to fruition. I don't see what a moratorium could add to the process."

He made the comments at a joint news conference with federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice, where the ministers announced three new working groups that will allow the federal and provincial Environment Departments to co-operate on three priority concerns: climate change, emergency response to environmental disaster, and environmental assessments of major projects.

The ministers hailed these initiatives as a sign of a new era of co-operation between Quebec and the federal government, particularly on files where there has been open discord, like climate change.

Prentice sang Arcand's praises, calling him "dynamic and practical."

Prentice also said the federal government supports Quebec's initiative in shale gas development, adding that other provinces with potential for shale gas extraction are looking to Quebec for leadership.

"Here in Quebec, Minister Arcand and Premier (Jean) Charest have taken the necessary steps to commence a process of exploration in

shale gas. We support that process," Prentice said.

"There are important (environmental) issues and we trust they will be examined in all the depth necessary. Other provinces will have to ensure they have regulations in place, but Quebec is very much a leader in terms of exploration of shale gas, and future exploitation."

A Leger Marketing poll commissioned by the environmental group Equiterre showed 76 per cent of Quebecers polled believe the government should suspend all shale gas exploration until impact studies are complete.

The poll was taken Oct. 4-6, before several experts told the BAPE that claims about job creation and economic advantages of shale gas mining have been exaggerated and that certain environmental concerns are valid.

Two Calgary-based companies that have pioneered shale gas drilling in the Drummondville area - Questerre Energy Corp. and partner Talisman Energy Inc. -say they are delaying completion of two deep wells for six months or more, citing depressed prices for natural gas, high drilling costs and downward pressure on exploration budgets generally.

Talisman spokesman David Mann played down reports that all drilling in the region has been halted indefinitely.

The decision was made because of prevailing low natural gas prices ($3.35 U.S. per 1,000 cubic feet) and the high cost of drilling in Quebec, where trained crews and equipment have to be brought in from Western Canada and the United States, he said.

"There's no great rush to complete those wells and we hope to resume next spring," he said. "Quebec has yet to develop the local infrastructure that can hold costs down. ... We're working now on our 2011 exploration budget."

Questerre shares fell 27 cents, or almost 14 per cent, to $1.67 in Toronto yesterday.

But company CEO Michael Binnion says he is convinced the Quebec shale gas deposits can be developed economically and with minimum environmental impact and become part of the province's energy strategy.

"We need local suppliers and drilling crews to lower costs," Questerre spokesperson Karen Carle said. "We also need to know what the province's future industry regulations will be."