By John Ikani
Algeria’s state firm is ready to supply additional gas to the EU from its surplus, the company’s boss has said.
This is in case of a decline in gas supplies due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
There have been fears that Moscow’s war on Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU and US may lead to the gas pipeline being turned off and Europe struggling to find alternative sources of energy
Sonatrach CEO Toufik Hakkar said the unmet capacity at the Trans med pipeline linking Algeria to Italy could be used to increase supply.
Algerian gas accounts for about 11% of Europe’s gas imports.
The US had reached out to Algeria and other countries for gas supply alternatives in case the Russian invasion leads to low supplies to Europe.
Russia exports between 150 billion and 190 billion cubic metres of gas to Europe each year, typically fulfilling 30-40 per cent of demand across the continent.
It accounts for 65 per cent of imports into Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany and 100 per cent for countries such as Latvia and Czech Republic, the Guardian reports.
