France is very poor in traditional energy sources. The country has no major oil or natural gas fields and coal reserves are either going to be depleted in a few years or are not economical. So it is logical that the price of energy in France is considerably higher than in the U.S. Furthermore, the decrease in oil prices these last two years has been offset by the sharp increase of the dollar against all European currencies and particularly the French franc (1$= 4FF in 1980 and 8.5FF in January, 1984). Thus, the development of national energy resources, especially geothermal energy is of particular importance. Although there are vapor fields in French overseas territories (Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion Islands), the main development of geothermal energy occurs in metropolitan France, primarily in the sedimentary basins