Engie CEO In Algeria Talks
Algeria's energy minister has encouraged Engie to invest in the country's renewables sector but the French utility already has a major upstream gas development to complete.
Engie CEO Isabelle Kocher met energy minister Noureddine Boutarfa in Algiers on November 14 for talks about the gas sector, current relations between state Sonatrach and Engie, and prospects for further cooperation. A ministry statement said they discussed the current state of the world gas market, business opportunities, and prospects for future investments in Algeria particularly in renewable energy.
Boutarfa invited Engie to consider investing in Algeria’s planned rollout of 4,000 MW new renewable power capacity. But the statement did not include any reply from Kocher. Nor did Engie issue a release about the meeting and it was not cited in the context of a separate enquiry by NGW this week.
Engie CEO Isabelle Kocher meets Algeria's energy minister Noureddine Boutarfa at the ministry in Algiers on November 14 (Photo credit: Algerian energy ministry)
Engie told NGW November 15 that its Touat upstream gas development in southwest Algeria remains on target to produce next year. “At Engie level, we are still talking about 2017," its spokesman said. The project, expected to reach plateau production of 4.5bn m³/yr, involves the development of ten fields near the town of Adrar in southwest Algeria by a joint venture of Engie (65%) and Sonatrach (35%).
In an Oxford Institute for Energy Studies report in May, former top ministerial adviser Ali Aissaoui estimated that Touat will not start until 2018 and that is among four big gas projects involving international partners initially due to have started up in 2016-17 that are now not expected onstream before 2018.
When first sanctioned in 2012 and main contracts were awarded in 2013, Touat was expected to have to have started up in late 2016. However, security issues and peaceful blockades by disgruntled locals over jobs have slowed progress.
Engie this April agreed to invest in renewables in Egypt. In contrast to Egypt, Algeria's Sonatrach remains a major and reliable LNG supplier to Engie.
Mark Smedley