Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, Jan. 22 -- State oil firm Sonatrach is interested in exploring four Russian gas fields after discussing energy cooperation with representatives from OAO Gazprom in Algeria Jan 21.
According to Russian reports, Russia's Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said that under an energy cooperation agreement signed last August, Gazprom had offered Sonatrach a variety of exploration rights for eight hydrocarbon fields. Khristenko said: "Gazprom has made its offer of assets exchange. Algeria has selected four fields and is working out its offers."
Algeria, in turn, is preparing a number of asset proposals for Gazprom to evaluate in an asset swap.
Russia and Algeria signed another energy cooperation accord Jan. 21 that will cover the entire petroleum chain from exploration to marketing. The reports added that Russia's OAO Rosneft and the country's pipeline firm Stroytransgaz plan to invest $1.3 billion in Algerian oil production.
Rosneft and Stroytransgaz are joint partners with a 60% stake in Block 245 South exploration project in Algeria; Sonatrach has the other 40%. The Russian companies plan to apply for a production license for two fields that have reserves of 26.8 million bbl.
The European Union has expressed concern about a closer partnership between Russia and Algeria, as they are the biggest gas suppliers to the EU. Senior officials from both countries sought to reassure the EU that there was no need for alarm. "Russia and Algeria are reliable suppliers of energy," Khristenko said in the state-run Algerie Presse Service.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].