The tough times continue for Algeria’s natural gas sector. Amid surging domestic consumption and dwindling output Algeria’s gas exports are set to come in at an almost quarter-century low in 2019, according to the latest available data.

Algeria’s precious gas exports are down almost a fifth (19.4%) in the first nine months of the year at 29.6bcm (3.83bn cfd) with the third quarter’s 8.9bcm the lowest quarterly figure since the mid-1990s. Forecasting full year figures from nine-month data is complicated by the fact that volumes often rise in Q4 as Algeria’s key European customers stock up with the start of winter. But, more than half way into Q4, there is no sign of this happening this year. (CONTINUED - 1770 WORDS)