Algeria’s Sonatrach mentioned in Saharan gas venture

Algeria’s Energy and Mines Minister, Chakib Khelil, and Holland’s Economic Affairs Minister, Maria van der Hoeven, are negotiating a potential project to pipe Nigerian gas to Europe across the Sahara, according to the official Algerian news agency APS. The idea centers around a partnership between Algeria’s Sonatrach, the Nigerian hydrocarbon company NNPC, and Royal Dutch Shell to develop a “mega-project” of the Trans Sahara Gas Pipeline that would transport Algeria’s gas to the ever gas-dependent hostages customers in Europe.

European Union (EU) Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs apparently “welcomes” the project as being in “the interests of European energy security and the environment and of Africa’s development”. Piebalgs has also indicated that the EU would help finance it. The talks come in the midst of a “gas war” between Moscow and Kiev that has implications across the continental Europe. That said, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said last year that it was holding preliminary talks with Nigeria about participating in the venture, so let’s see what happens.

As frontier companies go, Algeria’s Sonatrach is one of the more stable and appealing, especially in the energy sector. Per one analyst:

Arguably the largest company in all of Africa, state-owned Sonatrach oversees Algeria’s oil and gas exploration, production, and marketing activities. In addition to its exploration, refining, and pipeline operations, the company also invests in electrical power and in desalination projects. Sonatrach may lose some of its its power as a monopoly as legislation passed by Algeria’s parliament allows more foreign players in Algeria’s energy sector. The company also has exploration and production activities in other countries, including Libya, Mali, Niger, and Peru.