Algeria Tightens Procedures For Bringing In Foreign Workers In Hydrocarbons Sector

The text of the hydrocarbons bill provides for giving priority to Algerian national companies to win contracts and deals in all hydrocarbons sector that are signed between Sonatrach and its foreign partners and tightens the procedures for relying on foreign labor for oil and gas projects and give priority to Algerian frames and youth in recruitment.

The new hydrocarbons bill, which copy is available to Echorouk, states in its article 134 that; “Any hydrocarbons’ contract should include provisions that give the preference to Algerian companies for the supply of goods and services that are produced in Algeria, that are subject to the terms of price, quality and delivery times in line with those expected”.

The same article states that “the contracting parties to a project of hydrocarbons and the project operators shall have recourse and priority to qualified Algerian labor in relation to their needs for upstream activities (exploration and production)”, which seems clear to make the priority for the Algerian at the expense of foreign recruitment, especially in the case of a partnership with a foreign party.

In the same article, the law asserted that the contracting parties (Sonatrach, its foreign partners, and Algerian handling companies), During the start of upstream operations (research, exploration, exploration and production), that are financed by a special training program for Algerian workers to cover all the required qualifications for exploration and production, in accordance with the terms that are specified in the hydrocarbons contract.

The inclusion of national handling comes as a priority in the hydrocarbons sector and a realization of the national meetings for handling in this sector that is held by Sonatrach in September 2018 at Algiers Palais des Congrès, which aims to make Algerian companies have a share of 20 billion US dollars, equivalent to a national integration rate of 55% by 2030.

In another context, the law strengthened the powers and functions of the National Agency for the Assessment of Petroleum Resources (ALNAFT), which will carry out 25 tasks under the new hydrocarbons law in respect of upstream activities such as granting and revoking licenses, preparing data on national reserves and launching tenders for oil and gas projects and other tasks.