The CommonSpace report claims the two British universities cooperated with both the Israeli water consultancy firm Environmental Water and Resources Engineering (EWRE), an organization it claims is "linked to 'water apartheid' in Palestine," and the American oilfield services company Halliburton, it states has a "vested interest" in the fracking industry, in the study.
In January, Scotland imposed a moratorium on all unconventional oil and gas extraction including fracking, a process widely considered to be more dangerous to the environment than customary surface-drilling practice.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, extracts oil and gas by breaking underground shale formations using a mix of highly pressurized water and toxic chemicals. The technique has caused protests by environmentalists, local communities and members of government in Europe and the United States.
