PHOTO
Saudi Arabia intends to enter Algeria’s oil industry along with other foreign companies sought by the North African nation to develop its hydrocarbon sector, an Algerian official was reported on Wednesday as saying.
The state-owned Sonatrach, which manages the hydrocarbon sector in the OPEC member, is negotiating with oil firms from the Gulf Kingdom and other countries for investing in Algeria’s oil sector, said Mourad Beldjehem, Chairman of Algeria’s National Agency for the Valorization of Hydrocarbon Resources (ALNAFT).
He was quoted by Elkhabar newspaper as saying Sonatrach has been locked in negotiations with 12 foreign companies seeking to invest in Algeria’s oil projects.
“They include 7 companies which could invest in Algeria’s oil sector for the first time…they comprise companies from Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the US,” he said.
Beldjehem did not name those firms but said the negotiations are taking place under Algeria’s new hydrocarbons law 19-13, which is designed to attract foreign capital into the country’s hydrocarbon sector by allowing production sharing
On Tuesday, Sonatrach signed a MoU with the US-based Occidental Petroleum Corp to strengthen their existing partnership. In July 2022, the company had signed a $4 billion production sharing agreement with Sonatrach, TotalEnergies, and ENI covering a production and development project targeting one billion oil equivalent barrels from the Berkine Basin.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.
