Algeria will boost its oil and gas capex to $10bn for 2022 up from about $7.6bn this year, Prime Minister Aymane Benabderrahmane said on 13 September as he presented the government’s ‘action plan.’
The $7.6bn estimate for 2021 suggests state-oil giant Sonatrach is not far off its $40bn spending plan for 2021-2025 (MEES, 15 January). Mr Benabderrahmane says that the ramp up in investment aims to eventually increase Algeria’s annual gross hydrocarbon output to 196mn tons of oil equivalent (in theory 3.92mn boe/d – though these headline stats include flared and re-injected gas) from the 187mn toe recorded for 2019. Sonatrach is also hoping the country’s new oil law will open the floodgates to fresh IOC investment, but nothing concrete has been signed yet (MEES, 2 July). (CONTINUED - 218 WORDS)