Fuel Import Bill Will Not Exceed $1 Billion In 2017, No Imports In 2018

Fuel import bill will not exceed one billion dollars in 2017, thanks to the rehabilitation of the refineries of Skikda (eastern Algeria) and Arzew (western Algeria), Sonatrach’s Vice President in charge Liquefaction, Refining and Petrochemicals, Akli Remini, said on the sidelines of the ceremony of signing a contract between Sonatrach and a Chinese company to rehabilitate the Algerian refineries.

“Sonatrach has a great program for the rehabilitation of the Algerian refineries, as the process ended in Skikda and Arzew and they are now in service. This will cut down the bill on importing fuel to one billion bill dollars in 2017 compared with 2 to 3 billion dollars in the previous years.”

“Official launch of four new refineries will be in 2017 in Tiaret, Hassi Messaoud, Arzew and Biskra. Signing of the contracts that are related to the completion of the refineries of Hassi Messaoud and Tiaret will be before June 2017.”

“Our goal is to transform the raw materials of our country both locally and produce all our needs of fuel starting from 2018 before heading to export by 2020”.

In response to a question about the annulment of the contract with the French company “Technip” for the rehabilitation of the Algiers refinery, the spokesman asserted that the case is in the hands of international arbitration and that “the battle is still long”, but “Sonatrach will do everything in its power to defend its rights and protect its interests.”

Sonatrach signed a contract with a Chinese company for the engineering, construction, and fuel, “CBOC” for the completion of the rehabilitation works of the refining plant of Sidi Rezine in Beraki worth 45 billion DZD.

Rehabilitation of Algiers refinery, which is scheduled to be completed in 21 months after receiving it in September 2018, will raise the refining capacity at the plant by 35%, and the production of fuel according to the international standards.

In turn, President and General Manager of Sonatrach, Amine Maazouzi, confirmed that the production capacities of Algiers refinery will go from 7.2 million to 7.3 million tons after the completion of the rehabilitation works, pointing out that the Chinese company worked with Sonatrach already in the rehabilitation of refineries of capacitors in Adrar and Skikda.