OPEC member Algeria made 10 new oil and gas discoveries in the first half of 2023 within an ongoing programme to hunt for more hydrocarbons, an official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

The new discoveries are located in various areas near existing oil production facilities, making it easier for the North African Arab country to bring them on stream, said Rabei Baji, exploration director in the state-owned Sonatrach Company.

Baji told the official Algerian news agency that Sonatrach, one of the world’s largest oil conglomerates, is “studying and evaluating the new discoveries” and would announce results before the end of this year.

“Sonatrach enjoys a high degree of feasibility in oil production as the cost of producing one barrel does not exceed $1/barrel while it reaches $8/barre in other countries,” he said.

Sonatrach, which manages Algeria’s 12 billion barrels of oil and 4.5 trillion cubic metres of gas reserves, is planning to drill 45 new oil wells this year, Baji said, adding that 23 of them have been completed.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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