Algeria’s Sonatrach: ‘We cannot replace Russia gas’

The director of the Algerian Sonatrach Petroleum Corporation Tawfiq Hakkar has announced that his country is currently unable to be an alternative provider of Russian gas for European partners.

In an interview with Algeria Press Service, Hakkar explained that Algeria currently has some billions (of additional cubic metres) that cannot replace Russian gas. However, at the same time, he indicated: “Through the pace of our explorations, our capabilities will double within four years, which indicates promising prospects for our European customers.”

Sonatrach had even previously decided to sue La Liberté newspaper for headlining an interview it conducted with Hakkar stating that Algeria is ready to increase gas supplies to Europe. Algeria was also keen to officially deny all media reports discussing US demands for it to restart the gas pipeline that passes through Moroccan territory towards Spain. It had announced its suspension in the context of severing relations with its neighbour Morocco.

This is the first time that the director of Sonatrach has responded to a question about whether Algeria can supply Europe, which is looking for alternatives to Russian gas, with additional quantities of gas. Algeria left the impression that it refuses to increase its exports in these circumstances not to appear biased towards any party in the current conflict in Ukraine, especially since it is considered one of Russia’s most important partners.

READ: Algeria reviews agreements with Spain and rejects French visit over Western Sahara 

In the same context, Hakkar did not rule out the application of an increase in the prices of gas sold to Spain in particular. He shared: “Algeria decided since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, which led to the explosion of gas and oil prices, to maintain the contractual prices that are relatively appropriate with all its customers. However, we do not rule out revising the prices for our Spanish customer.”

On the other hand, Hakkar promised that 2022 would be a promising year for oil discoveries. He indicated that Sonatrach intends to invest $40 billion between 2022 and 2026 in exploration and production. He announced that Sonatrach made three discoveries during the first three months of this year, one of which had a reserve estimated at one billion barrels. The director of Sonatrach did not explain the reasons for reviewing prices with Spain, whether purely commercial or related to political developments.