Tunisia, like Algeria, has shelved shale exploration. But Egypt has been much less affected than francophone North Africa by strong anti-shale politics which echo those in France itself. Tunisia tried, and failed, to slip shale exploration under the radar (MEES, 7 February, 2014), but Egypt has been keen to tout a deal signed last month with Shell and US firm Apache which will see Egypt’s first fracking and horizontal drilling into shale rock. Cairo also plans to offer shale gas-prone acreage in an upcoming bid round and says it will boost remuneration to firms producing from shale formations above the standard $2.65/mn BTU in order to make this pay (MEES, 19 December 2014).