Other Fuel and Strategic Resources in North Africa: Oil Shale and Rare Earth Elements

Oil shale and rare earth elements (REE) are examples of the strategic resources in North Africa. Oil shale is considered as a major oil and/or gas-prone source rock. The Lower Silurian organic-rich shales account for 80–90% of all Paleozoic hydrocarbon sources in North Africa. However, due to Egypt's palaeohigh at the time, the Silurian organic-rich sediments were not deposited there, but Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene oil shale can be found. In the last decades, the interest and mandate for valuable resources and elements (REE) are continually increasing due to their critical role in several fields of activity such as technology and industry. Rare earth elements are generally associated with phosphorite deposits as they contain large quantities of REE. The current chapter covers five North African countries, i.e., Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.