Prime Minister Sellal “resurrects” the shale gas file from Moscow

Prime Minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, revived from Moscow, the stalled shale gas file by calling on the Russian Gazprom company to engage in cooperation with Sonatrach in the field of the production of this unconventional gas.

To recall, the Prime Minister is on an official two-day visit to Russia at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. He is accompanied by Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ramtane Lamamra, Energy Minister, Salah Khebri, the Minister of Industry and Mines, Abdeslam Bouchouareb, and Trade Minister, Bakhti Belaïb.

This visit was the opportunity for the signing of five cooperation agreements between the two countries, including a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of Housing, a cultural cooperation program between Algeria and Russia for the 2016-2018 period, an agreement on cooperation between the Algerian Press Service (APS) and Rossiya Segodnya, a memorandum of understanding between the Commissariat for Atomic energy (Comena) and the Russian State corporation (Rosatom), and a memorandum of understanding between the national Agency for the promotion and development of technology parks (ANPT) and the Russian Skolkovo Foundation.

An economic forum was held on the sidelines of the visit, where about 200 Algerian businessmen are present in Moscow to take part in such a get-together in order to enable operators of the two countries to explore business opportunities and partnerships that would further strengthen the bilateral ties in several fields of endeavour.

Indeed, it was during his meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, that the Algerian Premier Abdelmalek Sellal addressed the issue of shale gas by declaring that Algeria ranks second or third in the world in terms of proven reserves of this gas stressing that Algeria have the possibilities of exploring ways of cooperation in this field with the Russian side adding that Sonatrach must be ready in the future to use these extraction technologies of this unconventional energy in the future by training managers in this very sector of activity.

It should be noted that, Abdelmalek Sellal stated in an interview last January, on public television, that the shale gas issue is not on the agenda of the government and that the operation could not be envisaged before 2022, because for the moment Algeria possesses enough reserves of natural gas and oil until 2037.

However, in this sense, the Prime Minister said that Algeria has made every effort to deal with the drop in oil prices, by focusing on product diversification and expansion of international partnerships including the one with Russia as it embarked on a new economic process  by taking necessary steps imposed by the falling oil prices.

For his part, the Minister of Industry and Mines, Abdeslam Bouchouareb, said the Algerian-Russian cooperation prospects in the sector were favourable, arguing that major projects will be implemented soon, saying that “we are finalizing two large phosphate processing projects, likely to be achieved in the coming days in Algiers.

“We are in advanced negotiations between the Russian Institute and the Algerian public industrial group Manal for a large exploration project and processing of minerals found in common,” the industry and mines minister stated, saying that “this visit came at a time when our relationship with Russia is witnessing a particular enhancement particularly in the field of mining.”

In addition, Mr Bouchouareb also pointed to the major project implemented with the assistance of a Russian company designed to manufacture wagons for the National Railway Company.