ENI Broadens Shale Search

Eni SpA is looking into North Africa's unconventional resources.

Speaking to Dow Jones at a London conference, Steve Ratcliffe, a senior vice president at the company, said that it "is evaluating shale gas opportunities in Algeria."

Algeria was identified in an assessment by the U.S. Energy Information Administration as being amongst a group of countries that already produce substantial amounts of natural gas and also have large shale resources.

Earlier, Algeria's Sonatrach had said that it would be launching a pilot project for developing unconventional gas resources in 2012.

Djamel Bekkouche, the head of Sonatrach E&P Exploration said that the state company was searching for a partner to assist in development and that there been an exchange of views with international oil companies, including Eni, about shale gas development,

Last month, Algeria's energy minister, Youcef Yousfi, said the potential for unconventional natural gas in Algeria was comparable to major plays in the United States

Eni entered the European shale gas market this past December with the acquisition of Minsk Energy Resources and its three licences in the Polish Baltic Basin.