Maghreb Edition

In-Depth: Algeria’s gas sector facing internal woes and aggressive competition from QatarF

Posted On 23 May 2022

Number of times this article was read : 747

By Arezki Daoud: Algeria could have benefited from Russia’s war on Ukraine to maximize its revenue potential from exporting gas to a tense European market. But troubled by an unprecedented political crisis and a rocky presidential transition at home, Algeria’s leaders have failed to anticipate global geopolitical events that are reshaping the energy sector and have neglected to inject investments in the country’s gas industry necessary to boost production. While for at least next few years, Algeria cannot be counted on as a major contributor to offset the drop of Russian gas supply to Europe, the longer term prospect is also not fully assured as Qatar has launched an aggressive campaign to secure export deals with Europe, challenging Algeria on its turf.

Companies cited in this analysis: Sonatrach, Neptune Energy, Tecnicas Reunidas, Total Energies, Cepsa, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Spanish public financing agency Cofides

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