Shale gas in Algeria: a new disaster for the population, a new income for its government

After having outlined that the access to information on activities and projects of companies committed in the exploration and exploitation of non conventional hydrocarbons is generally very difficult in European countries, and that opacity is almost absolute in Maghreb countries, the authors try to shed a light on these activities in Algeria. They first outline that Total and GDF-Suez are both giant gas companies which are well settled in Algeria, and that Europe and France are top clients of Algeria as far as gas is concerned. They also notice that, as authorized by a new law and in reference with announced reserves, negotiations will take place between the Sonatrach (the public Algerian oil and gas company) and international firms. They finally briefly outline the various environmental threats associated with this exploitation (threat on agriculture, water pollution), and notices that, even though it somehow supports these activities, Europe is saying that it supports a Mediterranean sustainable development