Sonatrach
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Sonatrach (; ) is the national state-owned oil company of
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
. Founded in 1963, it is known today to be the largest company in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
with 154 subsidiaries, and often referred as the first African oil "major". In 2021, Sonatrach was the seventh largest gas company in the world.


Overview

Sonatrach is the 12th largest oil consortium in the world, with 154 subsidiaries operating over the entire oil value-chain from upstream, to
midstream The oil and gas industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. The midstream sector involves the transportation (by pipeline, rail, barge, oil tanker or truck), storage, and wholesale marketing of cr ...
, and downstream activities. In 2002, its gross sales was 1,530 billion Algerian dinars for a
net income In business and Accountancy, accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and Amortization (a ...
of 175 billion. With approximately 120,000 workers, the company produced 30% of the GNP of Algeria. Annually it produced 206 million
Tonne of Oil equivalent The tonne of oil equivalent (abbreviated toe) is a unit of energy defined as the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil. It is approximately 42 gigajoules or 11.630 megawatt-hours, although as different crude oils have diffe ...
(ToE), including 24 million ToE, or 11.7% of total, for the Algerian domestic market. In 2021, the company's export revenues had increased by 75%, placing turnovers at US$35bn for the year compared to the US$20bn from the previous year. Vice-president, Rachid Zerdani, stated that the results can be explained by the "recovery of global economic activity in 2021". Production increased to 185 million ToE, resulting in export levels of 95 million ToE. Sonatrach employed over 53,000 employees, as well as more than 150,000 employed in its subsidiaries. Sonatrach operates the largest oil field in Algeria, Hassi Messaoud, which produced around of crude in 2006. Sonatrach also operates the Hassi R'Mel field (north of Hassi Messaoud, south of Algiers), which produces around of crude. Other major fields operated by Sonatrach include Tin Fouye Tabankort Ordo, Zarzaitine, Haoud Berkaoui/Ben Kahla, and Ait Kheir. Sonatrach operates over of
crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...
pipelines in the country. The most important pipelines carry crude oil from the Hassi Messaoud field to export terminals. Sonatrach also operates oil condensate and LPG pipeline networks that link Hassi R'mel and other fields to Arzew. Sonatrach is expanding the Hassi Messaoud-Azrew pipeline, the longest in the country. The project entails a second, parallel line that will more than double the capacity of the existing line. Sonatrach has some concessions in
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
,
Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
,
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
,
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
and
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
. The company has also diversified into petrochemistry and the
desalination Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is Soil salinity control, soil desalination. This is important for agric ...
of
seawater Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...
.


Selected Fields

Notes: 1.EIA 2007.


History

Sonatrach was founded on December 31, 1963. At the time, however, the Algerian state held only 4.5% of the exploration perimeters, while French interests were as high as 67.5%. After the Arab-Israeli War in June 1967, Algeria decided to nationalize the refining and distribution activities of
Mobil Mobil Oil Corporation, now known as just Mobil, is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil, formerly known as Exxon, which took its current name after history of ExxonMobil#merger, it and Mobil merge ...
and
Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...
, and Sonatrach signed an agreement with Getty Oil on October 19, 1968 receiving 51% of Getty Oil's interests. Sonatrach gained control over all Algerian petrochemical resources following President
Houari Boumedienne Houari is a given name and surname. It may refer to: Persons Given name *Houari Boumédiène Houari Boumédiène (; born Mohammed ben Brahim Boukharouba; 23 August 1932 – 27 December 1978) was an Algerian military officer and politician who w ...
's nationalisation of all French oil and gas holdings beginning on February 24, 1971. The old concession system was replaced by a seizure of a 51% share of French petroleum companies. Only
TotalEnergies TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and is one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas explorati ...
agreed to continue its activities; the other companies left Algeria. Beginning on December 10, 1979, a conference on the exploitation of petroleum recommended increasing participation in the research efforts by foreign companies and countries. By a decree published in the ''Journal Officiel'' on May 17, 1980, Sonatrach was divided into four enterprises. From 1986, it became possible for foreign hydrocarbon companies to do business in Algeria within a partnership with Sonatrach (this process was simplified in 1991). The Sonatrach-Gaz de France accord, signed on January 12, 1989, allowed the state to set a compromise price of about $2.30 per million BTUs. A total of 9.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas were delivered annually until 1990, and Sonatrach recovered 850 million
francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...
in arrears, since the accord applied retroactively beginning on November 1, 1987. In March 2005, the Algerian parliament adopted the hydrocarbon reform bill, encouraging international oil company (IOC) investment in the hydrocarbon sector, which Sonatrach previously dominated. However, 2006 amendments to the hydrocarbon bill created a windfall tax on IOC profits when oil prices top $30 per barrel. This tax reached up to 50% on some contracts. In addition, the amendments gave Sonatrach rights to a 51% or higher participation option on each newly discovered project.EIA Algeria 2007 In June 2018, Naturgy signed an agreement with Sonatrach covering 30% of Spain's natural gas imports by pipeline. Sonatrach holds a 4% stake in the shares for the Spanish natural gas distribution company. In 2019, the two companies took over joint control of the Medgaz pipeline between Algeria and Spain, with Sonatrach holding 51% stake and Naturgy the remaining 49%. On 22 July 2019, the Sonatrach-controlled oil tanker ''Mesdar'' was briefly detained as it transited the Straits of Hormuz by the
Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. This was a case of mistaken identities because Sonatrach contracted a UK-based operator for the vessel, and the government of Iran was at odds with the government of the UK over the seizure of the oil tanker '' Grace 1''. When they realised their error and released the ''Mesdar'', the seizure of the '' Stena Impero'' fulfilled the needs of the government of Iran. In November 2021, Sonatrach announced that it would be carrying out the development of a 10 MWp photovoltaic plant in the basin of Hassi Berkine in order to supply oil sites within the region. Sonatrach signed a US$179 million contract on 17 February 2022 with
Sinopec China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Group, is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Chaoyang District, Beijing. The SASAC administers China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation for the benefit of State Council of the ...
from
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, to construct an LNG storage tank which will hold 150,000m3 at the
Skikda Skikda (; formerly Philippeville from 1838 to 1962 and Rusicade in ancient times) is a city in northeastern Algeria and a port on the Mediterranean. It is the capital of Skikda Province and Skikda District. History The Phoenicians and Carthagi ...
gas export terminal. With the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, Sonatrach CEO Hakkar stated in February 2022, that the company would be willing to supply Europe with more gas, however only the unused capacities in the Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline (Transmed) could be transferred to the European market. The Transmed pipeline which is operated with
Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...
, has a yearly capacity of approximately 32 billion cubic meters, to which 22 billion cubic meters of exported gas is already accounted for in various contracts. However, in April 2022, Hakkar went back on his statement from February, saying that Sonatrach would not be able to be an alternative provider of Russian gas. In March 2022, Sonatrach and
Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...
made a major discovery of oil and gas in the Zemlet el Arbi concession, as the HDLE-1 well was drilled, one of five to be placed in the Berkine North basin. Eni and Sonatrach signed an agreement in April 2022 to increase the amount of gas imported to
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
through the TransMed / Enrico Mattei pipeline to up to 9 billion cubic meters per year by 2023/24. It was confirmed in June 2022 from PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) that the Hassi Bir Rekaiz had hit first oil, they have 49% stake in the project, where as Sonatrach holds the other 51%. The targeted production rate for the project is 13,000 barrels of crude a day, which will boost the Thai companies total production volumes and support its growth. In July 2022, Sonatrach and its partners announced a production sharing contract (PSC) which will invest a total of $4 billion over the course of 25 years into onshore blocks located in the prolific Berkine basin. The agreement includes 3D seismic acquisitions, converting 46 wells into WAG process wells, as well as drilling an additional 100 oil wells. Over the course of the years various opportunity assessments for development will also be carried out. In August 2022, Sonatrach in collaboration with
Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...
made a new oil discovery at Haasi Illatou in the
Adrar province Adrar (, ) is a province ('' wilaya'') in southwestern Algeria, named after its capital Adrar. It is the second-largest province, with an area of 254 000 km2, roughly the size of the US state of Wyoming. It had 401.297 inhabitants at the ...
. This discovery comes 28 years after the last discovery of oil in the region. The same month, an EPC contract was acquired by
Petrofac Petrofac Limited is a British international energy services company that designs, builds, manages and maintains oil, gas, refining, petrochemicals and renewable energy infrastructure, and trains the people who support them. It operates in a range ...
for the Tinrhert Development Project, the original EPC1 that was acquired in 2018 covered the new inlet separation and compression centre. This new EPC makes Petrofac responsible for Alrar separation and boosting facilities. The almost $300 million valued project contract was given to Sonatrach for the EPC2 of the Tinrhert Development Project, which includes a new central processing facility with an inlet separation and decarbonisation unit. Multiple oil and gas discoveries were made in the summer of 2022 including one that is close to the Hassi R'Mel field, two were found during exploration in the Ekker Sud West-1 well, and there were positive results during drilling in the Tamzaia-3. With the ongoing supply problems to Europe from Russia, Sonatrach began contemplating ways to benefit from the gas price rises in 2022. With the increase in Algeria's role as supplier and trying to recover the loses from previous years, considerate price reviews were being made for each company in which they supply too. At the end of 2022, production operations began at the Tinrhert gas field. Each day it is estimated that 500 tons of liquefied natural gas and 800 tons of condensate will be produced. Sonatrach also signed a contract with Geoplin for the supply of natural gas to
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
via pipelines through Tunisia, the Mediterranean Sea and Italy. The delivery started in January 2023 and is expected to run until December 2025. For 2023, Sonatrach announced that they would increase the yearly output to 200 million TOE, which they have not reached since 2010. They also plan to sign new agreements with Eni, which will also include electrical supply. Algeria faced declines in the energy sector for the last decade but due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and new investment laws, they have recovered in the last year becoming the biggest gas supplier to Italy. Both companies will work together to find ways to increase the transport capacity of the existing gas supplies as well as planning a new pipeline which will transport hydrogen. In addition, undersea electrical cables connecting the two countries are in the planning to increase Algeria's LNG production capacity. A new project in 2023 in
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
has Sonatrach joining
Sasol Sasol Limited, commonly referred to as Sasol, is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built around coal liquefaction processes that German ...
(SOLJ.J) to produce low carbon hydrogen and
syngas Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in various ratios. The gas often contains some carbon dioxide and methane. It is principally used for producing ammonia or methanol. Syngas is combustible and can be used as ...
. The „Hybla” project will possibly become the largest hydrogen producer in Italy, with expected production of 7,800 tonnes of hydrogen and 25,000 tonnes of syngas yearly. Another project planned to begin construction in July 2023, is the
polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...
(PP) plant in
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
through the cooperation between Total and Sonatrach. It is intended that a capacity of 550,000 tonnes of homopolymer should be achieved yearly at the STEP PP plant. On 10 July 2023, Sonatrach and
TotalEnergies TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and is one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas explorati ...
signed amended contracts for their Tin Fouye Tabankort II (TFTII) and Tin Fouye Tabankort Sud (TFT Sud) fields. The original contracts were converted to comply with Algeria's 2019 petroleum law, and the companies agreed to upgrade the facilities already in place and increase production by drilling additional wells. An additional agreement was also signed between the two companies to explore renewable energy projects and develop low carbon energy programmes. After 10 years of force majeure, Sonatrach,
Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...
and BP resumed exploration in their blocks in the Ghadames Basin (A-B) and offshore Block C in August 2023, continuing their contract obligations. Sonatrach also resumed exploration in blocks 065 and 96/95 in the same location. In April 2024, Sonatrach and TotalEnergies signed an MoU for the development of the North-East
Timimoun Timimoun () is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune, and capital of Timimoun District, in Timimoun Province, south-central Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 33,060, up from 28,595 in 1998, with an annual growth rate o ...
region gas resources. The complex is made up of 37 wells which are connected to the gas processing facility leading though the pipelines to Hassi R’mel and TotalEnergies has been managing it since 2018. Earlier in the year, Sonatrach and TotalEnergies extended their LNG contracts to 2025 for an additional 2 million tons of LNG. In May 2024, Sonatrach signed an agreement with
ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...
to study existing opportunities for developing hydrocarbon resources in Ahnet and Gourara basins in Southern Algeria. An EPC was also awarded to
Baker Hughes Baker Hughes Company is an American global energy technology company co-headquartered in Houston, Texas and London, UK. As one of the world's largest oil field services, industrial and energy technology companies, it provides products and serv ...
and Tecnimont for the work at Hassi R’Mel gas field. The project, worth $2.3 billion, includes the construction of 3 new gas boosting stations with turbo compressors and upgrading of over 300km of existing gas flowlines.


Subsidiaries and Joint Ventures

Sonatrach owns 50% of Numhyd, a joint venture with
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
's ETAP, and ALEPCO, a joint venture with
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
's
National Oil Corporation The National Oil Corporation (NOC; ) is the national oil company of Libya. It dominates Libya's oil industry, along with a number of smaller subsidiaries, which combined account for the vast majority of the country's oil output. It is led by Fa ...
. In 1998, Sonatrach acquired Naftal, which is the principal company selling petroleum-based fuels for domestic consumption with about 10,000 gas stations (as of 2005). Naftec, a subsidiary of Sonatrach, operates Algeria's four refineries, which have combined capacity of . The Skikda refinery (300,000 bpd) provides the bulk of Algeria's refined products production. The Hassi Messaoud refinery supplies products to southern Algeria, while the Algiers refinery processes crude from Hassi Messaoud for consumption in the capital. Finally, the coastal Arzew refinery produces products for domestic consumption and export. In July 2006, Sonatrach and the
China National Petroleum Corporation The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) () is a major national oil and gas corporation of China and one of the largest integrated energy groups in the world. Its headquarters are in Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District, Beij ...
(CNPC) brought online the small-13,000 bpd Adrar refinery, which is located near the village of Sbaa north of Adrar. On July 1, 2018, Sonatrach appointed Youcef Ghazli to head the Foreign Investment Division, which oversees all investments in Europe. In March 2022, Naftal officials signed a US$364 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Sonatrach's pipeline unit TRC. The pipeline should only take about 48 months to construct, and it would run 424 km from
Arzew Arzew or Arzeu (, ) is a seaport, port city in Algeria, 25 miles (40 km) from Oran. It is the capital of Arzew District, Oran Province. History Antiquity Like the rest of the Maghreb, the site of modern-day Arzew was originally in ...
to
Chlef Chlef () is the capital of Chlef Province, Algeria. Located in the north of Algeria, west of the capital, Algiers, it was founded in 1843, as Orléansville, on the ruins of Roman ''Castellum Tingitanum''. In 1962, it was renamed al-Asnam, but ...
, carrying about 1.2 million tonnes of LPG a year.


Tassili Airlines

A joint venture between
Air Algérie Air Algérie SpA (, ) is the flag carrier of Algeria, with its head office in the El-Djazair office block in Algiers. With flights operating mostly from Houari Boumedienne Airport in Algiers and Ahmed Ben Bella Airport in Oran, Air Algérie op ...
(49%) and Sonatrach (51%) in 1998 established the passenger airline company Tassili Airlines. Commercial services were launched on 8 April 1999 with a flight from Hassi Messaoud to Algiers. In 2005, Air Algérie withdrew 50% of its funds in the airline, which thus became 76% owned by Sonatrach. In 2006, Sonatrach gave Tassili Airlines permission to expand its domestic destinations and for the future opening of international routes.


Eni

In July 2020, Sonatrach signed a contract with Italian company
Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...
. The contract which will run until 2049, includes the production marketing from three gas fields located in the south-east of the country. The three fields are Sif Fatima II, Zemlet El Arbi and Ourhoud II. An additional memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in December 2020 in order to boost exploration and production, as well as implement training activities. In March 2021, a new MoU was signed between the companies to focus on renewable energy, biofuels and hydrogen sectors. Various other agreements were also signed to cover exploration and production, research and development, decarbonization and training, and to strengthen the two companies' partnership. In April 2022, the CEOs of Sonatrach, Touffik Hakkar, and Eni, Claudio Descalzi, signed a contract to increase gas supplies to Italy through the Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline. Beginning in 2022, supply should increase gradually to 9 billion cubic meters per year in 2023-24. Near the end of 2022, Sonatrach and Eni began producing 10,000 barrels of oil daily at the HDLE/HDLS oil field in the Berkin Basin. The amount of output is to be increased to 17,000 barrels a day with the additional drilling planned in 2023.


Naturgy

In June 2018, Naturgy signed an agreement with Sonatrach covering 30% of Spain's natural gas imports by pipeline. Sonatrach holds a 4% stake in the shares for the Spanish natural gas distribution company. In 2019, the two companies took over joint control of Medgaz, with Sonatrach holding 51% stake and Naturgy the remaining 49%. Renegotiations of the supply agreement were made in 2020, in order to revise the prices, volume and duration.


Algerian Hydrocarbon Sector

Hydrocarbons play a crucial role in Algeria's economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues and over 95% of export earnings. The country ranks fourteenth in
petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...
reserves, containing of proven oil reserves with estimates suggesting that the actual amount is even more. The U.S.
Energy Information Administration The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and pub ...
reported that in 2005, Algeria had 160 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven
natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
reserves, the eighth largest in the world.Algeria Country Analysis Brief
, EIA, March 2005. Retrieved 18 Jan 2007.
As a result, Sonatrach is very important politically. Most Energy Ministers of Algeria have come from a Sonatrach background.


Corruption scandals

Sonatrach suspended all of its senior management after two of the company's vice-presidents were imprisoned for corruption. Algeria's Energy Minister, Chakib Khelil announced the president of the company and several executives have been placed under judicial supervision. In 2013, Khelil was also accused of receiving a bribe from a subsidiary of the Italian energy company
Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...
. In May 2020, an arrest warrant was issued against a representative of Sonatrach in Lebanon, as part of a greater operation against embezzlement of public funds in contribution with Lebanese officials. Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, who was chief executive of Sonatrach from March 2017 to April 2019, was arrested in February 2021, and in August of that year he was extradited from the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
, all related to his alleged involvement in various corruption cases. In February 2022, ex-energy minister Chakib Khelil was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison for corruption. Mohamed Meziane, CEO of Sonatrach from 2003 to 2010, was fined () and sentenced to 5 years in prison.


Presidents

* Sid Ahmed Ghozali (1966–1977) * Yousef Yousfi (1985–1988) * Sadek Boussena (1988–1990) * Abdelhak Bouhafs (1990–1995) * Nazim Zouioueche (March 1999 – 2000) * Chakib Khelil (March 2001 – 2003) * Mohamed Meziane (September 2003 – 2010) * Nordine Cherouati (May 2010 – December 2011) * Abdelhamid Zerguine (December 2011 – July 2014) * Said Sahnoune (July 2014 – June 2015) * Amine Mazouzi (June 2015 – March 2017) * Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour (March 2017 – April 2019) * Rachid Hachichi (April 2019 – November 2019) * Kamel Eddine Chikhi (November 2019 – February 2020) * Toufik Hakkar (February 2020 – October 2023) * Rachid Hachichi (October 2023 - present)


See also

* LNG El Paso Sonatrach


Notes


References

*
Energy Information Administration The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and pub ...
(2007
''Algeria: Country Analysis Brief''
* Sonatrach *
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
(2006), 'Algeria: Economic Report'' Social & Economic Development Group: MENA Region * P. Mobbs (2002
''Mineral Industry of Algeria''
* Thomas S. Ahlbrandt (2001
''Sirte Basin Province: Sirte-Zelten Total Petroleum System''
U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...
*
Sonatrach: The Political Economic of an Algerian State Institution
John Entelis, 2000


New projects of Edison S.p.A.
* (in French)

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
7 August 2006 (in French)
Naftal.dz


External links

* * * {{authority control Oil and gas companies of Algeria
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
Government-owned companies of Algeria Companies based in Algiers Energy companies established in 1963 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1963 1963 establishments in Algeria Algerian brands Algerian companies established in 1963