Last year, in November 2012, Shell was met with a surprisingly active Tunisian civil society following statements made ​​by Lamine Chakhari, former Minister of Industry, announcing that Shell had been granted exploration permits, where exploration wells would be expected to be drilled in 2013.

The production sharing agreement between the Tunisian Company of Petroleum Activities (ETAP) and Shell was concluded without waiting for the results of the Environmental Impact Assessment Study.

Since then, Tunisian environmentalists and various civil society organizations have continued to denounce Shell and the known environmental dangers associated with fracking activities.

On the 8th of December for example, a scientific debate at the National School of Engineers in Monastir took place between Tunisian experts in the field of fossil fuels. Meanwhile government authorities and company representatives have become increasingly elusive about what the future for shale extraction is in Tunisia.

Recent statements from Mohamed Akrout, CEO of ETAP, Ben Rchid Dali, CEO of energy,  Zuhair El Khadi, research director at the institute of Strategic Studies and various economist at the Tunisian Institute of Competitiveness and Quantitative Studies all deny the existence of shale gas drilling in Tunisia.

Sadly they are lying. In depth investigations by Nawaat, an independent group blog run by Tunisians, and leaked documents reveal that over 35 holes have already been drilled in 16 months in an area of ​​6 km squared by various companies such as Perenco, Rigo and Storm Oil Venture, and drilling company Schlumberger.

The confidential documents also reveal long lists of toxic chemicals being used in the multi-stage hydraulic fracturing activities, including practices which disregard warnings against the dumping of chemicals into the environment.

It turns out that SVI and Rigo Oil want, from 2013, to re-inject toxic laden liquids used in fracking back into the ground.

Lets speak facts and numbers: Shell’s Shale extraction in the region of Kairouan

Leaked confidential governments reveal that, in case the exploration phase is successful and production permits are granted, a total of 742 wells spread throughout the Kairouan region will be drilled by Shell for about 50 years.

This gives, on average, one well for every five square kilometers license Kairouan, a little over 2 miles between two wells drilled each month.

With 742 wells x 10 fracks per well x 20 million liters of water per frack = 300 billion liters of water consumed in 50 years.

Tunisia already suffers from issues of water scarcity – how can we even begin to think that shale extraction is sustainable for Tunisia?

For every job created in the shale gas industry in Tunisia, hundreds of agricultural jobs will be lost. It is sufficient to travel the country to see that Tunisia is still heavily dependent on its land for food production. Every day, millions of farmers still plow their land with donkeys and women are bent on their backs harvesting crops.

What will happen to these people if their irrigation waters are polluted or if water scarcity created by Shell and other oil companies prevents them from producing food?

Kairouan is not only situated in one of the most seismic areas in Tunisia but also it sits at the convergence of main groundwater and freshwater sources of mineral water for the country. Compromise of these waters with liquid toxic and carcinogenic fracking is no doubt an enormous ecologic, economic and social disaster in an already water scarce country.  

No country in the world can treat waste water from fracking which are laden with carcinogens, hormone disruptors, and dissolved gases. Tunisia is currently incapacitated to treat waste water for irrigation purposes, let alone deal with contaminated groundwater.

Arguments which state that Tunisia will benefit from shale extraction because it will become energetically independent (Tunisia currently imports expensive gas from Algeria for electricity production) forget that energy self-sufficiency can be garnered through a mix of solar energy, tides, geothermal, bio-oil and wind – resources which Tunisia has plenty of.

Even though these renewable energies have their drawbacks too, the reality of exploitation of shale gas portrays a far grimmer reality for Tunisians. Who will suffer the most? As always, the answer is: the poor, indigenous groups and the environment.

Image of Shale Gas Exploitation Tunisia from Nawaat

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Led by ruler-backed organizations such as King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE) and confident with its 18 percent share of the world’s proven crude oil reserves, Saudi Arabia has taken decisive steps towards incorporating clean, renewable energy into its mix. Israel, meanwhile, obsessed with its former fossil inferiority and under the spell of such power mongers as Rupert Murdoch, is dead set on ecological self-destruction.  

Rupert Murdoch is corralling support for maniacal ecological moves disguised as “energy security.”

Along with former US Vice President Dick Cheney and Lord Jacob Rothschild, Murdoch has a huge stake in Israel since he sits on the board of Genie Energy Ltd., a local subsidiary of which recently received a license to explore for fossil fuels in the disputed Golan Heights territory.

Basically the Cheney-Murdoch-Rothschild triad is kicking the Syrians while they are caught up in a bloody civil war – with the Israeli government’s blessing. Or it’s just plain opportunism. I’m not sure which is worse, but this is the subject of a former post.

For now we’re focusing on shale oil –  IEI/Genie’s other insanity.

Responding to a fishy Op Ed in the New York Post, which recently issued a soaring review of the benefits of oil shale in Israel right around the time that another Murdoch-owned rag, Fox News, did the same, David Krantz, President and Chairperson of the Green Zionist Alliance, excoriated the NY Post journalist’s obfuscation of shale oil’s dark side.  

Each right-leaning paper proclaimed that Israel has as much oil as Saudi Arabia, and that fracking in the tiny country would bring independence – that long sought-after dream for Jews everywhere, a golden carrot dangling in stardust.

But there was little mention of how fracking has been associated with increased earthquake frequency in areas, nor did the Murdoch-owned papers mention how much energy (in Israel’s case coal) will be required to exploit shale oil – something that currently comes in low supply and at a staggering environmental cost.

“Fracking for oil is an energy net loss, and one that may make Israel more dependent on foreign fuel than it is today,” writes Krantz, who also reminds us that in the Middle East, water is more important than oil.

“It is widely thought that the next war in the region will not be over oil, but over water,” says Krantz.

“And fracking for oil threatens to poison the region’s limited fresh-water supply, further escalating tensions and making new peace agreements between Israel and its neighbors harder to achieve, since such agreements will include division of water rights.”

I’m not sure who Murdoch is trying to impress with his campaign to sing oil shale’s praises regardless of its environmental cost to the Israelis, Palestinians and other residents, but in a country where water conservation is as much a part of the local ethos as resting on the sabbath, and where the sun shines absurdly bright, he will have a hard time convincing environmentally and socially aware Israelis that fracking is better than solar.

“[Arthur] Herman was right in pointing out that the oil shale is in Israel’s Elah Valley, where David fought Goliath, but he got the roles wrong,” writes Krantz.

“The fossil-fuel companies are Goliath. The Green Zionist Alliance and its allies in Israel — such as the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and the Citizens’ Committee to Save Adullam — are working against Goliath to protect and safeguard Israel.”

“If you love Israel — if you want clean air, land and water for its citizens, if you want to support energy independence in Israel, if you want to support peace in Israel — then join the fight against fracking. Goliath fell once before in the Elah Valley, and together we can fell him again,” he concludes.

Everywhere the fight between ordinary citizens and energy giants feels just like this historic battle – be it in Canada, Egypt or Israel, yet grass roots organizations across the globe continue their fight to ensure that powerful lobbies don’t deprive the rest of humanity their inalienable right to enjoy clean water, breath fresh air, and live in peace.

Image of dirty coal plant, Shutterstock

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Jordan may be dealing with an energy crisis exacerbated by attacks on the Sinai Peninsula gas pipeline – but now is not the time for rash decisions

Over the last of couple of months, voices highlighting the threat of an energy crisis in Jordan are getting louder. The situation is desperately alarming they say and whilst they’re right to be concerned about the country’s heavy energy dependency – their calls to embrace shale oil and nuclear power are shortsighted.

Following the huge disruptions and attacks on pipelines carrying gas from Egypt to Jordan, there have been growing concerns about Jordan’s energy situation. The energy-poor country relies heavily on imports and depends on Egypt for 90% of its gas, which is used to generate more than 80% of its power. The impacts of the disruptions have also not come cheap. Some estimate it has cost the country over US$1 billion to deal with energy gap and that was back in October so the amount is bound to have increased.

Jordan clearly needs an energy solution. But rather than jumping to shortsighted solutions such as exploiting their shale oil reserves or nuclear power, they country needs to think long term and start building a renewable energy infrastructure. Energy experts in the region have been urging Arab nations to embrace the high potential of solar energy and environmentalists continue to call for an open and public debate on energy developments and particularly nuclear plans.

Talking to the Jordan Times, environmental campaigner Sufyan Tell said: “The entire world is running away from nuclear energy: Germany, Italy, Sweden and Japan are not only suspending their nuclear programmes but laying legal framework to prevent the construction of future reactors. Why are we in Jordan running towards nuclear without dialogue?”

Campaigners have urged the Jordanian government to abandon their nuclear plans and channel their investment into increasing the country’s renewable energy instead. Current targets set the contribution of renewables to the energy mix at just 10 percent by 2020. In contrast, there are plans to produce 14% of their energy mix from oil shale by 2020.

Whilst protests against nuclear power have highlighted environmental problems as well as concerns over costs and safety, campaigners have been relatively silent about the similar environmental concerns of exploiting shale oil. As I noted in a previous post, shale oil is expensive, energy intensive and damaging to the environment- it has also been linked to water pollution and water shortages. Therefore, an open and honest debate about Jordan’s energy plans and their environmental impacts as well as renewables alternatives is desperately needed.

:Image via Paala/flickr.

For more on energy developments in Jordan see:

Energy Experts Tell Arab World ‘Solar is the Future’

Jordan Jumps Forward on Energy Development

Greenwash Alert: Shell To Fund Environmental Education in Jordan

Can Nuclear Power Ever Be Justified For Environmental Reasons?

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