Energy Experts at Echorouk Forum: “Algeria's oil reserves will end after 10 years”

Experts and specialists in the energetic issues agreed that the policy which is applied by Sonatrach between 2000 and 2010 resulted in the destruction of the largest fields of oil and gas in the country, which are Hassi Messaoud and Hassi R’mel.

Abdelmadjid Attar, an oil expert, President and General Manager of “Sonatrach” and former Minister of Water Resources, revealed at Echorouk forum, that Algeria has spent money like no other on activities in the past ten years, but took negative and catastrophic results, due to the failure in the management of Hassi Messaoud and Hassi R’mel fields.

“Production of the two fields is declining rapidly. Algeria did not invest properly in the conduct of activities, which led to exhaustion of Hassi Messaoud and Hassi R’mel, which were destroyed during the last decade”, he added.

“If Algeria succeeded in the conduct of these fields in a good way, the country was in comfort for at least another 10 years to come. If “Sonatrach” continued working at this pace, Hassi Messaoud and Hassi R’mel will be completely destroyed after 10 years. Algeria is before a dangerous challenge because they failed to convert hydrocarbons into a lasting wealth through diversification of the economy, and we remain dependent to fuel at 100%”.

Algeria in the face of wall
“Algeria faces many challenges in the form of higher domestic consumption in light of the need to continue exporting before the pressures of the national decline in production since 2007”, Abdelmadjid Attar said.

“Domestic consumption of 29 billion m3, while exports fell to 53 billion m3, and if it continues at this pace, and if it fails to diversify the economy and economic organization until 2019, Algeria will face of the wall in 2022, when domestic consumption jumps to 55 billion m3, which is much more than Algeria’s exports in 2011. The disaster that will face Algeria lies in the decline of its income from exporting hydrocarbons, estimated at 75% after 10 years, and in the event of a failure to diversify the national economy, we are in confrontation with the wall. No one can predict what will happen in the community, which requires urgent intervention, and beginning from now, through the development of a new and quick shift of energy, because the country is before the last opportunity because all the scientific evidence says that Hassi Messaoud and Hassi R’mel cannot be explored”, he added.

Algeria should accelerate the exact reserves of shale, “Tide” gas
“Government should accelerate to make serious studies and in-depth knowledge of the real national reserves of fuel that are not traditional, including shale and “Tide” gas and oil shale. Algeria can not proceed in the extraction of schist and tide gas before 14 years, but it is asked to know the precautions so as not to be surprised in the future”.

“Algeria can not renew its reserves of oil and gas with traditional sources alone. Resorting to renewable energies or nuclear power is too expensive, the solution is to use all possible energies in the country, especially renewable energies, and intensify discoveries of traditional fuels”.

“Society should understand that shale gas is a natural gas which does not differ from the gas which is produced currently in Ain Amenas or in Hassi R’mel or Ain Salah in all other fields, the difference between it and the normal gas, is the place where gas exists, and how to produce it”.

“Algeria does not need to go to the exploitation of shale gas in the current circumstances, because it has its fields which produce sufficient quantities to cover domestic demand and export volumes of up to about 53 billion m3 per year, then the environmental problems posed by the use of the current technology, push Algeria to wait a bit, with the need to know the real precautions, because we do not know them precisely, although there is evidence, for the existence of gas in rocks that have been drilled by Sonatrach in the past, and that was not exploited because of the few amounts, but compared to America and the techniques that are used, Algeria could produce the equivalent of 2,500 to 7,500 billion m3 of shale gas from the area of ​​the desert, which contain rocks, because shale gas is available in the central desertic regions in uninhabited areas. While the northern areas do not have any information because Sonatrach did not explore them before”.

“Number of wells that have been drilled in the desert for exploration or production reached 13.000 wells, and in the future the production of shale gas will take place in the Berkine, Illizi, Mwidir, Ahanet basins, and in the western reg, in the region of Timimoun, Ain Salah and Tindouf, southern Algeria. “These places contain shale gas, the production is currently a far subject, as there are only a number of wells which were dug by Sonatrach, which are Ahanet 1 and Ahanet 2, in order to study rocks which are vertical wells, as this gas can not be utilized before 14 years, which means 7 years of exploration and 7 years for development, so we wait until 2027 to begin the production”.

Oil expert Mourad Berrour: Algerian gas has become non-competitive in the European market
“One of the most serious challenges facing Algeria in the coming years, is the need to determine the form of energy that will be followed in the future, and if the country will remain a source of energy, or it has to engage in global competition through its universities and public and private institutions? Algerian gas has become non-competitive in the European market due to the presence of senior competitors for Algeria gas like Russia, which controls 23% of the European market and Qatar, which doubled its share within two years”.

“Russia has built the northern stream with 27 billion m3, and in its second phase it will reach 55 billion, and the Southern Stream with 63 billion m3. Which are huge amounts. Qatar became the engine of the
free market which determines the prices”.