Algeria Refuses To Sell Reggane’s Gas Fields To A Company Listed On Tel Aviv Stock Exchange

The Italian company “Edison” temporarily suspended the sale of its shares in the gas fields in southern Algeria, in favour of “Energean Oil and Gas” because of a position by the Algerian authorities and Sonatrach company which refuse to complete the deal, since the Greek company has strong relationships with Israel and is listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange for financial transactions since October 2018.

A statement of the Italian company “Edison” (which copy is available to Echorouk) said Friday that its board of directors had approved on April 2, 2020, some amendments and reviews to an agreement to sell 100% of its branch for hydrocarbon exploration and production, in favour of the Greek company “Energean Oil and Gas”, according to the deal that was announced on July 4 and later on December 23, 2019.

“The deal with “Energean Oil and Gas” will formally exclude the assets of Edison Petroleum Exploration and Production Company in Algeria.

A statement of the Italian company explained that concerning its assets in Algeria, which are in the stage of activity at full capacity since August 2018, under the provisions of the Algerian authorities and agreement with the Sonatrach company, Edison decided to retain ownership of its assets in Algeria by starting a transfer process within the group, and thus excluding it from a deal to transfer it to “Energean Oil and Gas”, indicating that it is possible to consider selling these assets in Algeria, after the transfer process within the group and when the conditions will allow it.

The Italian company revealed that these changes will lead to financial consequences in the deal from “Energean Oil and Gas” amounting to about $150 million.

From the statement that was issued by the board of directors of the Italian Edison, it is clear that there is an Algerian position that opposed to the sale of its assets in the Algerian desert, but the statement tried as much as possible not to show the details of the Algerian position which is opposing the deal, without providing any details about its reasons.

A source with complete knowledge of the file told Echorouk that the statement is a confirmation that the Italian company maintains its assets in the Algerian desert in the area of Reggane in the province of Adrar, indicating that the fields where Edison has assets are producing natural condensate gas.

According to the source, the deal related to the fields that are explored by the Italian Edison, Italy, that waiting for a customer who has the approval of the Algerian authorities.

According to the Italian company’s statement, the deal with the Greek company amounted to about $750 million, but the source who is familiar with the file told Echorouk that the financial value of “Edison’s assets in the vicinity of Reggane alone amounted between 600 and 800 million dollars.”

The same source added that Algeria has completely refused the acquisition of the Greek company “Energean Oil and Oil” because this company has very close relationships with Israel, and because it is specifically listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange for financial transactions, in addition to being listed on the British London Stock Exchange.

With a simple review of the history of the Greek company “Energean Oil and Gas” on the Internet, it is clear that it is already present in Israel, where it operates gas fields and became listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange as of October 2018.