Sonatrach Exports Reached $37.7b during First Six Months of 2012

General Manager of “Sonatrach” said on Tuesday that the exports of the comapny during the first six months of 2012 reaches to $ 37.7 billion and that the average price of Algerian crude settled at $113.4 per barrel during the same period, compared to $112.9 in the same period, warning of the continuing decline due to the global ‭economic crisis and ‭confinment of the demand ‭in the fastest economies of the world, which are ‭the Chinese and Indian‭. ‬

Mr. Zerguine said during a press conference for presenting the outcome of the company, during the first six months of 2012, that the general production of the group reached 102 million tonnes, the equivalent of oil at the end of the June 2012, while the quantities that were exported during the same period reached 57.2 million tonnes equivalent to oil, while the petroleum tax ‭that was paid to the General Treasury in the first ‭six months of 2012, reached 22.30 ‭billion dianrs‭. ‬

In response to Echorouk question about Algeria’s exploitable reserves, he explained; “Sonatrach is currently working to develop the non-traditional reserves of hydrocarbons, to cover up the limitations of the traditional resources, “The preliminary results that have been reached through the experiences on the non-traditional gas, showed that Algeria has the equivalent of 4 times of the current reserves, I.e 600 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas, with a rate of recovery of 20%, which indicates that the field of mining in Algeria has not yet revealed all its capacity.There had been contracts with the global companies, like Shell ‭and Axon Energy Products”‭. ‬

“Algeria will resort to the companies of oil services companies, which use necessary technology for the exploitation of unconventional gas, in addition to expertise that is available by specialized subsidiary companies belonging to “Sonatrach”.