Sunday, 09 January 2022<\/p>\n
ALGIERS- The national hydrocarbon company Sonatrach plans to start its first offshore oil drilling in 2023, Sonatrach\u2019s Deputy-Chairman in charge of Strategy, Planning and Economy Rachid Zerdani said on Sunday.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sonatrach intends to think outside the box in the near future. Indeed, the improvement in oil revenues after the price increase allows the public company to make many investments. Sonatrach, which plans to invest 40 billion dollars between 2022 and 2026, is also planning to explore for oil offshore. This was stated on Sunday January 9 by the vice-president responsible for strategy, planning and the economy at Sonatrach, Rachid Zerdani, on the airwaves of national radio Channel 3.<\/strong><\/p>\n Thus, the national hydrocarbons company Sonatrach plans to carry out its first offshore oil drilling in 2023. This first drilling will highlight the potential identified on the perimeters on which Sonatrach operates with partners, according to Rachid Zerdani, who reveals that \u2018we are talking about two perimeters, one located in the east and the second identified in the western basin of the country.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Projects that were to be launched by Sonatrach in 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It should be noted that this project is not new for Sonatrach. Indeed, in the time of Mr. Ould Kaddour, currently imprisoned, this project was going to be launched. \u201d\u00a0We will soon have the first exploration drilling for offshore. It\u2019s very interesting for us. Of course, there is potential. According to preliminary studies, there are very good prospects. Now we have to wait and see. But I think that from next year, we will start to do the first drilling \u201d,<\/em>\u00a0Said the ex-CEO of Sonatrach Ould Kaddour in September 2018.<\/p>\n At that time, Sonatrach had concluded several agreements with Total and ENI, including the one relating to the exploration of offshore hydrocarbons. These contracts stipulated that exploration in the eastern area at B\u00e9ja\u00efa was to be carried out by Eni in the eastern Algerian basin, over an area of \u200b\u200b15,000 m\u00b2, the objective of which is to identify sandstone and carbonate reservoirs while in the area West interest, in the western Algerian basin, exploration was to be carried out by Total, over an area of \u200b\u200b10,000 m\u00b2, the objective of which is also to identify sandstone and carbonate reservoirs.<\/p>\n However, last February, Abdelmadjid Attar, then Minister of Energy, mentioned the offshore hydrocarbon exploration project off the Algerian coast launched in 2018 and entrusted to the Italian Eni for the East coast and to the French Total for the West Coast. The minister then revealed that Total abandoned the offshore hydrocarbon prospecting contract off the west coast of Algeria, while Eni\u2019s contract on offshore prospecting off the east coast is still ongoing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n