PM Sellal: “No shale gas exploration only after discovery of method barring health hazards”

Algerian Prime Minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, has pointed to the decision by the authorities to put off drillings for shale gas, until the discovery of other way not harmful to public health and water resources, that can be used in the shale gas searches in all safety.

He said that Algeria is currently in the stage of shale gas exploration and not in the exploitation phase, stressing that the country had already concluded binding agreements with several international energy companies that cannot be undone because Algeria doesn’t want to lose its reputation internationally as a serious partner.

Mr Sellal said during an encounter Friday with an MP from the “Justice and Development Front” party, Hassan Aribi, that respectful of the opinion of the Algerian people, President Bouteflika already issued a letter of clarification regarding the exploration of shale gas, asserting that Algeria is currently in the exploration phase and not yet in the exploitation phase of shale gas, linking the projected tapping of this non-conventional energy to the current uneasy economic juncture of the country.

Mr Hassan Aribi told “Echorouk” to this effect that Prime Minister Sellal had informed him that Algeria initialed bona-fide contracts with several global energy companies and cannot delay enforcement of these contracts because that would tarnish the international status of  these companies and the states to which they belong in general.

“However, taking into account of the clear stance of the southern-based opponents of shale gas exploitation notably in In Salah region,  it was decided to postpone the process of exploration until the discovery of a new reliable method that won’t negatively impact on public health and ground water resources, he quoted the Premier as saying.

In a fruitless attempt to subdue the In Salah protesters, Prime Minister Sellal recently told a television broadcast that the government had not yet decided on whether to use shale gas techniques.

“We are a responsible government. I confirm that the exploitation of shale gas is not the order of the day as for now. Algeria has sufficient reserves of conventional energy to meet its needs,” he said.In January 2015, national hydrocarbons group “Sonatrach” announced that it would invest $70 billion to explore Algeria’s 707 trillion cubic feet of estimated technically recoverable shale gas reserves.

 Soon afterwards, Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal then argued that shale exploration is not on the government’s agenda. This, however, didn’t stop Sonatrach’s activities in In Salah as the drilling is only exploratory in nature and aims to assess the nature and amount of the energy resources, but this didn’t preclude the launching by the local incredulous residents of a wave of unabated street protests in southern regions.