15-09-04
"Algeria is important to world energy markets because it is a significant oil and gas producer and exporter," US Department of Energy (DOE) indicated in a study mapped out on every OPEC member country.
In an exhaustive report it worked out on the political and economic aspects of
the country, Spencer Abraham Department underscored the economic situation in
Algeria "which witnessed a significant growth" through "a rise in
exchange, a positive growth rate, a significant progress in trade balance, a
fall in the pressure on public finance and a reduction of debt."
Speaking about the oil and gas sector, US ministry to energy indicated that
although oil was first discovered in Algeria at the Hassi Messaoud oil field in
1956, Algeria is considered to be under-explored. Over the last few years,
significant oil and gas discoveries have been made.
Sonatrach and its foreign partners hope to increase Algeria's crude oil
production capacity significantly over the next few years. In order to
accomplish this, Algeria will require significant amounts of foreign capital and
expertise.
Algeria's proven oil reserves are estimated at 11.3 bn barrels, although "recoverable oil resources" may range as high as 43 bn barrels. With recent oil discoveries, plans for more exploration drilling, improved data on existing fields, and use of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) systems, proven oil reserve estimates are expected to be revised upward in coming years.
Algeria should also see a sharp increase in crude oil exports over the next few
years due to a rapid shift towards domestic natural gas consumption and planned
increases in oil production by Sonatrach and its foreign partners.
Approximately 90 % of Algeria's crude oil exports go to Western Europe, with Italy as the main market followed by Germany and France. The Netherlands, Spain and Britain are other important European markets. Algeria's Saharan Blend oil, 45 degrees API with negligible (0.05 %) sulphur content, is considered among the highest quality in the world.
Algeria's average crude oil production during 2003 was around 1.2 mm bpd. In
coming years, it is likely that Algeria's oil production capacity will be
increasing rapidly as the country invests billions of dollars into exploration
and development efforts. Currently, the country is targeting crude oil
production capacity of 1.5 mm bpd by 2005 and 2.0 mm bpd by 2010.
Much of Algeria's increased production capacity will come from foreign independent oil companies, such as Amerada Hess (the El-Gassi field), Anadarko (Berkine, Ourhoud), Burlington Resources (Block 405), BHP Billiton (ROD), and Cepsa (Ourhoud, Rhourde El Krouf).
Commercial natural gas production, Algeria is ranked in the top 10 producing
countries world-wide Algeria is the second largest exporter of LNG (behind
Indonesia), with around 17 % of the world's total, exported mainly to Western
Europe (France, Belgium, Spain, Turkey, Italy, and Greece) and the United States
(about 5 % of Algeria's LNG exports go there).
Source: Algérie Presse Service