Just a thought. In Hungary, and probably everywhere else, if you are drilling for natural gas, before you start a flow test you need to take out a permit, and also pay royalties on any gas you produce, even if you flare it.

If you come across oil as well, you most likely have to obtain an additional permit for the oil.

The Hungarian Mining Act treats geothermal energy exactly the same as it does oil & gas. The only difference is the royaty (2% for geothermal energy).

Since they hit water in the Foldeak-1 and were producing that water for almost 2 months, I assume they would have had to take out a permit. It's certainly not beyond imagination that the reporter found this out and made a big deal out of it.

"Makó development: Exxon may harness geothermal energy in the Makó trough"

Exxon has applied for production permit for geothermal energy utilization in the Makó trough....