Algeria to Import Diesel, Gasoline from Russia and Lithuania

“Sonatrach” decides to close a part of Skikda refinery (east of Algeria), the beginning of May 2012, and start the works of a routine maintenance, a period preceding of an increased demand of refined products to coincide with the holidays, forcing the government to import larger quantities of fuel, oil and gasoline and pay down the national refining capacity of the Algerian government through calling ona Lithuania and Russia, for the supply of diesel and gasoline in all their forms, to meet the deficit in supplying the local market with refined products.

General Directorate of Customs said that Algeria imported 226.000 and 598.000 tons of diesel and fuel in 2011, compared to 291.000 and 617.000 tons in 2010, before Algeria turns to the importer of diesel and gasoline.

General of Directorate of Customs added that Russia was the largest supplier of diesel and fuel in 2011, with 117.000 and 67.000 tons, then the Republic of Lithuania with 68.000and 67.000 tons, which reveals the tragic situation of Energy and Mines sector after 10 years of disastrous management by Chakib Khelil, who took over the sector early last decade.

Chakib Khelil was not interested in developing the capacity of national refining, and was only interested to doubling exports of Algeria of crude oil, which jumped from 630.000 barrels per day in 2000 to 1.4 million barrels per day in 2012, while this production was not accompanied by an increase in the national capacity of refining , which was stable at the national levels of 1980, after the failure of Adrar refinery project, which stopped working after a short period of activity ‭. ‬

Algeria is expected to notice an explosion of demand on the refined products during the next summer, as indicators of the rising demand on gasoline in all types start to appear on April, prompting the government to import shipments of fuel diesel and gasoline to cover the shortfall caused by the decline in the national refining capacity, due to the aging of equipments and the rising of the local demand resulting from the expansion of the national barn of vehicles, which rises with about 300% during the last ten years, reaching 5.5 million cars and industrial vehicles.

Algeria imports about 400.000 cars annually from abroad, half of them work with diesel, although Algeria is among the first countries ‭ ‬ which producc gas in the world.

Algeria consumed ‭annualy over ‭8.9 million tons of diesel, and 3 million tons of gasoline. ‬