Law obliges us to carry out studies before water or shale gas wells digging, says minister

Algerian water minister Hocine Nassib said any wells digging will not be carried out only after studies. “Legally speaking, all the operations must be start by examining exploration effect on environment either relating to shale gas or something else,” he told Echorouk.

The minister did not reveal details about those studies. Earlier, he said shale gas exploration would not affect fishery resources. Yet, studies show that millions of cubic meters of water should be exploited in order to extract gas from one well.

This comes as residents in In Salah (southern Algeria) took to the street to protest against the government’s decision to extract shale gas. Algerian officials confirm that the operation is safe and has no negative impact on environment.