Sonatrach, Algeria’s state-owned energy company continues to play a prominent role as a major gas supplier to Europe.The energy giant and Portugal’s energy company Galp, recently renewed their agreement to supply natural gas for another decade . As per the agreement, Sonatrach will supply 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. A similar agreement was also signed between Sonatrach and Italy’s energy giant ENI to extend the Algerian gas exports to Italy. Algeria, which is among the world’s top 10 natural gas exporters, caters for 14 percent of EU countries’ natural gas needs. These deals point out that Algeria has sufficient liquefaction capacity to serve international markets.
Algeria produces approximately 130 billion cubic meters of natural gas, of which 97 billion cubic meters is exported. Sonatrach has madelarge investments in the areas of prospection and production with a projected value of USD 42 billion between 2019 and 2023. Experts haveprojected a jump in the rate of gas consumption internally. The demand with an annual growth rate of 4.5 percent is expected to hit about 50 billion cubic meters by 2025. The country has gained from the surge in international gas market bolstered by growing demands from China, India, and Europe. Algeria,s strategic geographic location in the heart of the Mediterranean basin and at the gates of Europe also contributed to the growth.
