Denmark stopped its first exploratory drilling for shale gas just one day after it began, only to perform a U-turn one week later.

Earlier this month, Ture Falbe-Hansen, a Danish Energy Agency (DEA) spokesman said that French company Total had used “a product that was not authorised for the procedure”.

The product — Null Foam — is considered to be an environmental hazard, according to Danish public broadcaster DR.

After a meeting with Total representatives on 13 May, DEA director Martin Hansen said: “The DEA has now received a satisfactory statement from Total in which the company described how a number of new procedures to control the handling of chemicals will ensure that no future error occurs.”

Henrik Nicolaisen, who is in charge of the drilling project for Total, said that Null Foam had been left off the initial list of products used at the site “because we did not expect it to be a problem.

“We had been in dialogue with both the municipality and the DEA since February, and we felt that we had an understanding that the substance could be used.”

The Danish government gave Total permission to start test drilling for shale gas in Vendsyssel in the far north of the country last July, despite widespread resistance from local community groups and various environmental organisations.

Denmark is one of the few European countries to allow test drilling for shale gas — alongside the UK, Poland and Romania.