Hommam Al Nassim 
Algerian Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab announced on Wednesday that the state-owned company Sonatrach has made 8 important oil and gas discoveries since the beginning of this year.
This announcement came during an interview by the minister with Algerian official television, where he indicated that these discoveries were made in completely new locations, the most prominent of which were in the states of Bashar, Ain Salah, Illizi, Djanet and Ouargla.
Arkab stressed that these discoveries will significantly enhance proven national reserves of hydrocarbons, especially natural gas.
He explained that Sonatrach has developed huge capabilities to achieve these discoveries, without revealing the volume of production or estimated reserves.
The Minister of Energy indicated that the investment climate in Algeria is considered “attractive,” stressing that the 2019 hydrocarbons law included global measures that resulted in the conclusion of huge contracts with major companies such as the Italian “Eni,” the Norwegian “Equinor,” and the American “Occidental.”
Arkab added that the American company Chevron will sign with Sonatrach in the next few days a contract to develop a huge hydrocarbon reservoir, without providing additional details.
In a related context, Arkab confirmed that Sonatrach’s first strategy is to raise production, with a goal of reaching 200 billion cubic meters of gas annually within 5 years.
It is noteworthy that Algeria’s production of natural gas reached about 137 billion cubic meters in 2023, according to data from Sonatrach.
Last Thursday, Sonatrach signed a contract with two Italian and American companies to complete three gas processing plants to boost production in the country’s largest field, Hassi R’Mel.
This project aims to ensure the continuity of gas extraction from the field, which is the largest on the African continent, and to maintain the production level at 188 million standard cubic meters per day.
Algeria makes progress in energy transportation projects to Europe