CANAL ALGERIE | AFP | Getty Images
A video grab taken from footage broadcast by Algeria’s ‘Canal Algerie’ on March 11, 2019 shows Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (R) meeting with Algeria’s army chief, Ahmed Gaid Salah in the capital Algiers. ‘Peacefully, we have overthrown the puppet!’ people sang in Algiers following the president’s decision.
Oil and gas revenues make up more than 95 percent of Algeria’s export earnings, and it has the 10th largest natural gas reserves in the world. Its proven crude reserves sit at 12.2 billion barrels, the third-largest in Africa, while it produces about 1.05 million barrels per day (bpd), a number analysts say is lower than its potential due to under-investment.
So there’s a dire need for reforms focused on “attracting more investment from IOCs to expand hydrocarbon production and export earnings,” Verisk Maplecroft said.
Sonatrach estimates some two-thirds of Algeria’s territory remains underexplored or unexplored. In 2018, oil majors Exxon and Eni signed contracts to explore its offshore areas. But heavy red tape, lack of transparency and a high tax on profits of foreign companies have put off investors for the past several years.
Algeria’s government has been in the process of drafting a new, more investor-friendly Hydrocarbons Law that was expected to go through parliament after the now-postponed April 18 elections.
But “the prospect of protracted political turmoil,” Skinner said, “means that the adoption of a draft Hydrocarbon Law with new incentives to encourage exploration and production will be placed on the backburner.”
As for the immediate future, a transitional government will be established to rule Algeria through 2019 and oversee later elections, though details on this remain vague. Analysts warn that the protesters may not be satisfied with the lack of offers of concrete solutions to their demands.
“The protesters’ rallying cry until yesterday was for Bouteflika to withdraw his candidacy,” Skinner wrote. “However, calls for inclusive government and an end to corruption have become increasingly strident and we do not expect the timeline and terms of transition that have now been laid out to satisfy them.”
from Viral News Reports https://ift.tt/2HnufiL
0 Comments