John Ikani
Algeria says it has reached a deal with three “partners” to increase prices of its natural gas exports.
The agreed hike comes at a time that Europe is desperate to boost supplies from the North African country.
Speaking to newsmen on Sunday, the Chief Executive Officer of state energy firm Sonatrach, Toufik Hakkar said: “We are confident that we will soon reach agreements to review the prices with other partners.”
Hakkar however did not name the three counter-parties with which the deal had been struck.
Algeria is Europe’s biggest gas supplier after Russia and Norway, sending the fuel via pipelines to Spain and Italy, and also shipping it in liquefied form.
The European Union is trying toreduce imports from Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and officials have traveled to Algeria to try and secure commitments for higher production.
Sonatrach is looking to benefit more from a surge in gas prices in the past year. It is mulling several options with buyers, including linking its contracts more to spot gas prices, Reuters reported last week. Gas contracts are often tied to crude oil prices.
The Algerian company does business with European utilities such as Cepsa and Endesa in Spain, Italy’s Eni, Engie in France and Galp in Portugal.
Hakkar, the CEO, also said Sonatrach’s output was 79 million tons of oil equivalent in the first five months of 2022, up 2% year-on-year. Spending on exploration jumped 70% to $21.5 billion.
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