Italian oil major Eni and French energy major Total signed an agreement with Algeria’s state-owned oil company Sonatrach, for offshore exploration in the North African country. In parallel, Eni and Total will also pursue obtaining exploration permits that will allow for the rapid completion of the hydrocarbon potential assessment.
The Chairman and Director General of Algeria’s state oil company Sonatrach, Abdelmoumem Ould Kaddour, the Chief Executive Officer of Eni, Claudio Descalzi, and the Chief Executive Officer of Total, Patrick Pouyanné, signed two agreements during the Algeria Future Energy Summit in Algiers on 29 October.
Together with Sonatrach and Total, we will have the opportunity to explore the deep waters of the Algerian offshore, a virtually unexplored geological province,
…said Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi.
Eni, the biggest foreign oil and gas player in Algeria, said it had also agreed with Sonatrach to take a 49% stake in three oil blocks in the Algerian desert estimated to hold 145 million barrels of oil, Reuters reported.
The licences cover an area in the North Berkine basin where all Eni’s production assets are located and production is expected to start by the end of 2020.
Eni has been present in Algeria since 1981 and currently participates in 32 mining permits with an equity production in the country of 90,000 boe day, making the company the country’s main international player.
