Algeria and Saudi's differing shale development

Two of the most-watched countries in the expansion of unconventional gas adopt opposite approaches to tapping their substantial reserves

Handicapped by corruption and political delays, Algeria has made scant progress in the eight years since it identified shale gas as an important opportunity, even though its revenues from hydrocarbons are in decline. Algeria's foot-dragging is of particular concern to some of its customers such as Spain, which buys 55% of its total gas consumption from there. After Russia and Norway, Algeria is the third-biggest supplier to the European Union. By contrast, Saudi Arabia is fully engaged in a heavyweight programme to develop its ample shale and tight-gas potential, estimated to be 10 times the volume of the kingdom's conventional oil and gas reserves, as the fuel of the future. It's pushing on