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www.wri.org/water-for-shalePROTECTING WATER SECURITYPROMOTING ENERGY SECURITY

For many countries, shale gas could strengthen energy security while cutting emissions. In fact, shale gas could add 47 percent to the world's natural gas reserves. But governments and businesses must address a key challenge as they explore this new and abundant resource: freshwater availability.

A number of environmental, social, and financial risks are associated with shale gas and tight oil extraction, but water availability-related risks have been thinly documented. Drilling and hydraulic fracturing shale resources requires lots of water for short periods - between 7 and 25 million liters per well.

Shale resources, however are not always located where water is abundant. 38 percent of the world's shale resources face high to extremely high water stress or arid conditions. This growing water-energy trade off could limit development on every continent (except Antarctica).

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www.wri.org/water-for-shale

We analyzed each shale play in 11 countries: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Mexico, Poland, saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We chose countries based on:

1. Volume of shale resources (as estimated by the U.S. Energy Information Administration);2. Level of current or planned produciton;3. Likelihood of future development;4. Feedback from experts.

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www.wri.org/water-for-shale

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