Algeria to keep regional position as 'largest supplier of natural gas'
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The Central Director of New Resources says Algeria is committed to maintaining its regional status as a top supplier of natural gas by expanding exploration and production.
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An oil refinery is pictured in Arezine, 20 kilometers east of Algiers (AP)
Youcef Khanfar, the Central Director of New Resources at the Sonatrach Group, emphasized Algeria's determination to maintain its status as "the largest supplier of natural gas in the Mediterranean basin and Africa."
Khanfar, speaking to Algerian Radio (Radio Algérienne), highlighted Algeria's current position as the largest supplier across the Mediterranean and Africa, maintaining its commitment "to remain so by exploring new fields and improving production from fields under development."
The Central Director also noted significant progress in field production, with a notable increase of over 4 billion cubic meters of gas in 2022.
He also revealed plans to reach more than 10 billion cubic meters between 2024-2028 in terms of improving the production of deposits under development, noting that Sonatrach’s objective is to respond to the national demand increasing by 3 to 5% per year, expected to exceed 60 billion cubic meters starting from 2030.
“We must also work more to improve the gas supply in order to keep our export market,” he added, confirming that projects are being carried out within the framework of the energy transition.
Regarding the exploration of new deposits, he reported that more than 163 drillings were carried out over the last five years, having made 80 discoveries with allocated reserves of around 75 to 110 million tonnes of oil equivalent per year.
Sonatrach discovers over 10 new oil fields in the first half of 2023
In August 2023, Algerian state-owned energy giant Sonatrach confirmed it had made 10 new oil and gas discoveries during drilling operations in the first half of 2023.
Most of these fields are located near existing strategic facilities which enable them to be easily integrated into production, the state-run radio Channel 1 reported, citing Sonatrach's Exploration Department Director Rabie Badji.
"Most of these discoveries are located near existing facilities and in mining areas, which will allow the company to quickly integrate them into production operations," Badji said, noting that the company is currently carrying out a process of verifying and evaluating the profitability of the discoveries "the results of which will be disclosed later."
On his part, Sonatrach Chief Executive Toufik Hakkar said in January that the company has made a 40-billion-US dollar investment plan for 2023-2027, with a primary focus on expanding oil and gas exploration and production.
