Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Tuesday at the inauguration of the national production fair (FPA-2022) his country’s ambition to double its gas exports to Europe in 2023.
“We currently produce nearly 102 billion m3 of gas, half of which is consumed locally. I hope that in 2023, we will reach a production of 100 billion m3 of gas intended exclusively for export,” he said.
Algerian gas has been widely coveted by European countries since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Wanting to punish Moscow, these states have since sought to get out of their dependence on Russian gas.
Algiers intends to take advantage of this situation and continues to reassure its foreign partners about its ability to meet a good part of their gas needs.
Welcoming the partnership between Algeria and Italy, Tebboune said his country “was not opposed to Italy becoming a hub for the distribution of (Algerian) gas to other countries, including Germany”.
Also touting Algerian gas exports to Italy, the CEO of the Algerian oil company (Sonatrach), Toufik Hakkar, said that “during this month, we achieved a record figure for our gas exports to Italy, a figure that we have not recorded since 2011. Our exports were around 97 million m3/day to Italy”.
This official had indicated last week that his company would invest 40 billion dollars over five years to develop its hydrocarbon production capacities, particularly gas.
