Sonatrach will hire thousands of people, says minister

Energy minister Youcef Yousfi said Algeria is following up all the developments in oil market and it is ready to attend an emergency session which may be held by the OPEC.

The minister said hydrocarbons production did not fall but it will go up by about 40 percent in the next five years. There will be no changes to the law on hydrocarbons and Algeria’s energy group Sonatrach will open a competitive exam to hire thousands of people within the next few weeks.

“Algeria is not very concerned about the oil prices fall but it follows up developments. This is due to shale gas exploitation by the US. An emergency session may be held to examine the situation or to reduce production to raise prices,” he told reporters in Oran.

“Hydrocarbons production was estimated at 2.5 billion barrels in January-September. It is expected to reach 4 billion barrels by the end of 2014,” he added.

Speaking about natural gas and alternative energies, Youcfi said a call for tender about shale gas exploration attracted 5 world companies. One of them operates in the north and the rest in the south.

“The number of companies interested in shale gas production will go up as the government wants to provide appropriate climate for world companies’ captivity. It also plans to reinforce partnership in hydrocarbons field and start commercial exploitation of shale gas by 2020,” the minister said.

“Algeria is rich of energy. Algerian people should not be concerned. Shale gas extraction is and ordinary operation in many countries and it is not dangerous,” he added.