France's parliament has approved a law prohibiting all oil and gas exploration and production within the country and its overseas territories by 2040.
Under the new law, the country will not issue any new licenses or renew the existing drilling permits.
However, the rule is unlikely to have much impact, as France meets 99% of its oil and gas requirements from imports.
Following the approval to the law, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: "Very proud that France has become the first country in the world today to ban any new oil exploration licenses with immediate effect and all oil extraction by 2040."
Currently, France produces 815,000 tonnes of oil annually. A significant part of the country’s production is from its South American territory of French Guiana, Independent reported.
Earlier this month, Engie chief executive said that the utility intends to switch all of its gas operations to biogas and renewable hydrogen by 2050.
Engie chief executive Isabelle Kocher was quoted by Reuters as saying: “We will progressively make our gas greener so that by 2050 it can be 100 percent green.”
In July, a media report said that France was planning to shut down up to 17 nuclear reactors in the next eight years to reduce the contribution of nuclear power in its energy mix.
An announcement in this regard was made by French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot in an interview with RTL radio station.
Hulot referred to the decision of French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to persist with the previous government’s goal of reducing the contribution of nuclear power from 75% to 50% made to the country’s electricity generation.