FINANCIAL NEWS

Algeria to share technology with oil majors

14 Sep 2010

(MENAFN) Algerian energy minister Youcef Yousfi stated that Algiers will step up pressure on oil majors to share technology with the OPEC member instead of simply taking oil and gas out of the ground, Reuters reported.

The minister was making his first public comments on energy policy since his appointment in May, and they appeared to fit in with the Algerian government’s increasing shift towards economic nationalism.

Algeria this month launched a new oil and gas licensing round to be concluded by next March. It was not clear from Yousfi’s comments if more technology transfer would be included as a requirement in that round.

Algeria supplies about a fifth of Europe’s gas needs and is also the world’s eighth-biggest exporter of crude.

The next bid round will be a test of foreign interest in Algeria’s energy sector. The previous two licensing rounds attracted only lacklustre interest, with foreign oil executives saying the terms were not attractive enough.

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