Energy
From The Report: Algeria 2016
View in Online Reader

As Algeria attempts to curb the impact of the global downturn in oil prices and sustain economic growth, boosting hydrocarbons production to make up for lower prices and keep pace with rising domestic demand is a priority. Making the market attractive to foreign investors is fundamental to raising production, as are measures to ensure sustainable consumption of energy. With two-thirds of the territory still unexplored and the EU export market next door, there is still plenty of scope to expand both production and revenues even amidst the current low price environment. This chapter contains a viewpoint from Noureddine Boutarfa, Minister of Energy; and interviews with Akli Brihi, Maghreb Cluster President, Schneider Electric; and Amine Mazouzi, CEO, Sonatrach.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Ready for more: Despite the current climate of low oil prices, the country is investing in its vast untapped potential
OBG
plus

Algeria’s growth over the past decades has been driven in large part by heavy government spending, which is enabled by the country’s vast hydrocarbons wealth. As a result, as oil prices dropped – by almost 70% between the summer of 2014 and the beginning of 2016 — the consequences for the economy were significant, with Algeria experiencing a current account deficit equivalent to around 18% of its GDP as of December 2016. This has been exacerbated by sectoral constraints, including maturing…

Viewpoint

Going green: Noureddine Boutarfa, Minister of Energy, on boosting the role of renewable and sustainable energy
OBG
plus

Noureddine Boutarfa:Viewpoint We have set ambitious and promising targets for renewable energy, and we are determined to make the next 20 years an era of real development for sustainable energy. Algeria’s national plan envisages 47-51 TWh by 2030, of which more than 9 TWh should be installed by 2020. We have always insisted that the strategy for implementing the national renewable energy development programme is based on two components – the energy itself and the industry that can emerge…

Interview

Less money, more options: Akli Brihi, Maghreb Cluster President, Schneider Electric, on Algeria’s shifting energy ideals
OBG
plus

Interview:Akli Brihi What are the challenges to improving energy efficiency in emerging markets? AKLI BRIHI: First of all, it is important to emphasise that developing countries are seeing their energy demand rise rapidly under the pressure of three trends. The first comes from urbanisation, given that we will build as many cities in the next 40 years as we have since the beginning of humanity. The second trend is digitisation in light of the fact that we are living in the second age of the…

Analysis

Fixing the fields: Older oilfields are undergoing major renovations
OBG
plus

In spite of the fact that Algeria has some of the largest oil and gas reserves in Africa, is among the continent’s top-five producers in oil and is the single biggest gas producer, the age of its upstream facilities is beginning to show, with maturing production levels. Output for both oil and gas has slowed steadily over the past decade, which has exacerbated the impact that the drop in global prices has had on the domestic energy sector. As a result, in addition to increasing exploration –…

Analysis

Come to the light: Solar projects capitalise on the country’s ample sunlight
OBG
plus

In 2011 the government launched the National Development Plan for Renewable Energies (Plan National de Développement des Energies Renouvelables, PNDER), a massive programme to develop renewable energies. The initiative entails plans for the addition of 22 GW to the national grid by 2030, entirely generated through renewable energies. “This target will represent around 35% of the installed capacity of the time, taking into account ongoing conventional generation projects that will come on-line…

Interview

Looking ahead: Amine Mazouzi, CEO, Sonatrach, on upcoming developments in hydrocarbons production
OBG
plus

Interview:Amine Mazouzi How would you assess the key investment programme strategies for the 2017-21 period? AMINE MAZOUZI: Sonatrach is essentially an upstream oil and gas company. Indeed, the share of the upstream in the total investment of the company never falls below 70%. Most of our investments are dedicated to the renewal of our reserves base; as such, I would like to mention that we have recently recorded some breakthroughs with more than 32 discoveries in 2016 versus only 22 discoveries…