Washington Proposes An Energy Alliance With Algeria

The United States of America announced that it wants an agreement with Algeria, to ensure gas supplies to some European countries, in a move that aimed at breaking the Russian monopoly on the European market.

“Strengthening energy security in the region by promoting energy diversification is one of the best ways for the United States and the Algerian government to work together”, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Sandra Oudkirk said on the occasion of the second edition of the Algerian-American Forum on Energy in Houston.

“Many countries continue to rely on one source or form of energy, making them vulnerable to supply problems that threaten economic and national security”, the US diplomat added.

“Algeria is a big supplier of energy to Europe and we congratulate it for being a reliable partner that helps the continent diversify,” Odekirk said. Supply “.

Oudkirk asserted that some European countries rely heavily on Russian gas, and the Office of Energy Strategies for the state secretary supports efforts to diversify supplies and ways to transfer energy to this continent, explaining that “Algeria is a big energy supplier to Europe and we congratulate it for being a reliable partner that helps the continent diversify its supplies”.

“The United States encourages Algeria to raise its exports to Europe and the rest of the world”, said the deputy assistant secretary. 

“The bilateral economic cooperation is the real basis for strong bilateral relationships”.

“European countries are looking to ensure their energy security while trying to impose conditions that are inappropriate for their traditional suppliers and calling on many producers to review their trade strategies to find other markets for their gas”.

“Not renewing the long-term contracts that were announced by some European countries harms the supply of the old continent, which intends to move more and more towards the immediate market in order to meet their energy demands”.

The United States is betting on the export of liquefied natural gas to Central and Eastern Europe, which are areas that rely heavily on Russian gas.

The meeting of the second edition of the Algerian-American Forum on Energy that was held in Houston aims to strengthen energy relationships between the two countries.

General Manager of Sonatrach, Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, the Director General of Sonlagaz, Mohammed Arkab, the President of the Oil Agency, Arezki Hosseini, the Algerian Ambassador to the United States, Madjid Bouguerra, and many other officials in the energy sector are also participating in the meeting.

Three American representatives from the State Department for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce participated in the forum, which was held under the theme of “strengthening energy partnership between Algeria and the United States”.

The second edition of the forum was attended by many US oil companies that are active in production and services, as Schlumberger and Kellogg Brown and Root will offer their solutions in the exploration, sea exploration and oil services.

The meeting, that was organized by the Algerian-American Business Council and the American-Arab Chamber of Commerce, and the Algerian Embassy in Washington, will discuss several topics that are related to promoting trade and investment opportunities with US energy companies.

Sonatrach and Sonelgaz companies, and their agencies and subsidiaries as well, will offer investments that are included in their development programs.

The last edition of the forum was held in 2016, and was an opportunity for Algeria to defend the reviving of US energy investments, which has declined since 2010.

The investments of US oil companies, which are present strongly in Algeria, recorded a significant decline in recent years, declining to $ 100 million in 2015 after reaching $ 600 million in 2010, according to figures that are provided by the Energy Ministry during the last edition of the forum.

About 50 American oil companies are located in Algeria, and are mainly engaged in the exploration and production of raw materials such as Anadarko, BP Amoco, Schlumberger, Amerada Hess and Halliburton. 

Anadarko is the largest crude producer in Algeria within Sonatrach partners’ list.