A report by the Ministry of Energy and Mines, showed Thursday that the domestic demand for natural gas will rise from 26.6 billion m3 in 2008, the equivalent of the amount currently produced by Algeria annually, or the amount consumed by both Spain and Turkey in 2007.

Nadjib Othman, Chairman of the Committee to set electricity and gas at the Ministry of Mines and Energy said, during the submission of the program  of the evolution of the national consumption of the natural gas, which covers the period between 2009 and 2018, that the national demand for the natural gas will rise by 6.6% during the current year to reach 28.4 billion m3, compared with 26.6 billion m3 last year, and the domectic demand of the industrial sector with 10.7 billion m3 compared with 12 billion m3 from the production of electricity and 5.7 billion m3 to provide homes with the natural gas.  ” The study has been prepared on the basis of three hypotheses which expected the increase of the Algerian population by 1.43% until 2018, according to the National Office of Statistics, which expected the Algerian population will reach 39.4 million at that date”. 

“The rate of linking the Algerian houses with the natural gas reached 43%. It is good compared with other countries which produce the natural gas. This rate will rise to 57% in 2012, after the realisation of the 2001 program by the government in the context of providing homes with the natural gas. Government allocated $5 billion to implement these programs”. ” With the current pace of the annual producation estimated at 152 billion m3, the quantity of which 30 billion m3 is consumed locally in 2010 and which produced 67 billion m3. Thus,the Algerian reserve of the natural gas will drop to 1100 billion m3 by 2020, if no new discoveries are registered, and this reserve will drop again to 600 billion m3 by 2030, a level which do not allow to meet the domestic demand for the production of electricity or to supply the houses and the industrial sector, in the sense that it is appropriate for a country like Algeria which has medium gas reserves, to start thinking of renewable energy suorces, in order to compensate oil and gas which will not last for long”.

 Chakib Khalil revealed in his response to Echorouk question that Algeria’s reserves of uranium are estimated to 29.000 tons, indicating that this amount would be enough to run two stations of the elector-nuclear power with 1000 megawatts each for a period of 60 years. ” Algeria launched a program for the uranium exploration in the south where important reserves of uranium. Many of Algeria’s partners are anxiuosly awaiting the issuance of the law on the peacefull use of the nuclear power in Algeriam including the French company “Areva” which hopes to obtain licences allowing them to exploit the uranium in the south of Algeria.