Yousfi: “Algeria has taken all steps to cope with plummeting oil prices”

Algerian energy and mines Minister, Youcef Yousfi, has dispelled fears about the possibility of any financial tremors besetting the national sector of petroleum in the aftermath of the marked decline in oil prices on the world market registered since last June.

Mr Yousfi, said at a press conference in the city of Mostaganem in western Algeria on the occasion of the inauguration of a mega electricity plant there, that Algeria had taken all necessary steps to face up to any severe drop in oil prices on the international market.

Mr Youcef Yousfi further emphasized that there was a significant improvement in the supply of electricity during the summer of 2014 compared to the summer of 2013, despite a hike in national demand this year by about 20 percent.

The energy and mines Minister also provided indicators of tangible improvement in the short term through the renewal of power distribution networks with BDB, covering large areas of southern Algeria where the giant electricity network linking the North to the South of the country will be fully operational soon, he explained.

Meanwhile in the cooperation file, Tanzania and Algeria are to launch a joint venture company as part of an energy cooperation agreement to start oil and gas exploration in Tanzania, according to local media outlets.

The joint venture between Tanzania’s electricity supply company Tanesco and Algeria’s electricity and gas company Sonelgaz is expected to be operational “within a few months”.

In this connection, Algerian energy and mines minister, Youcef Yousfi, said that two initial joint projects between the two countries relating to gas distribution and oil well drilling and production “are now at an advanced stage”.

Algeria and Tanzania signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the energy and mining sector in December 2013.

Mr Yousfi said bilateral cooperation would extend to “the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, mining, electricity and training”.