Algeria’s Energy Industry to Keep Growing Despite Security Concerns
From Al Bawaba
The In Amenas terror attack will not slow down Algeria’s energy sector, officials and investors agree.
Hundreds of international gas and oil companies looking for investment opportunities in Algeria’s energy sector converged this month in Ourgla for the Hassi Messaoud Expo.
“This will create a new dynamics that will reflect positively on the economic activity in the region,”Sonatrach regional manager Harfouche Benarar said at the event on March 8th.
The terrorist threat in southern Algeria will have no impact on national energy production, and the country’s hydrocarbon and oil production will continue “for many years to come”, Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi told French monthly magazine Arabies.
Noting the desire of terror groups to target energy installations, the minister confirmed that the government had made “appropriate adjustments” with regard to the security of strategic sites.
Algeria’s energy reserves and potential spurred the country’s partners, including major oil companies such as Statoil and British Petroleum (BP), which were directly affected by the attack inTiguentourine, to continue operating in the country.
The In Amenas terrorist attack was a “heavy blow” but also represented a “new type of risk”, former Sonatrach CEO Abdelmadjid Attar said.
