The last of these capitals was Berlin, which imports about 55 percent of Russian gas, as it is preparing to acquire the share of the American “Edison” company in the Algerian “Ragane Nord” field, at a value of 100 million dollars, according to the German company “Winter Dea”.
Europe’s fears of cutting off Russian gas and resorting to Algeria may place the latter between “a rock and a hard place” and a “difficult choice” between the Russian square and alignment with Europe and the West, according to experts.
Algeria is the first African exporter of gas and the seventh in the world, but the old infrastructure and the increase in domestic consumption impede the increase in its exports.
European rush
Several foreign energy companies, such as Italy’s Eni, France’s Total Energies, and Norway’s Econnor, operate in Algeria, according to production sharing contracts.
With regard to Italy, which received gas supplies from Algeria by about 21 billion cubic meters in 2021, compared to about 29 billion cubic meters from Russia, it signed an agreement to increase its purchases from an additional 9 billion cubic meters annually during the years 2023 and 2024, which is equivalent to 12 percent of its consumption from gas last year.
According to the “Bloomberg” news agency, Algeria is a major supplier of gas to Italy and Spain, and the third largest exporter of natural gas to the European Union after Russia and Norway, which may make it a tool to mitigate gas market turmoil.
The German company, Wintershall Dia, is one of the most prominent companies active in the Algerian oil sector since 2002, as it entered as one of the partners of the Reggane Nord project, which contains 6 gas fields and 19 wells producing 2.8 billion cubic meters annually, and is expected to continue production until 2041.
“The company has always been an active partner in the Ragan Nord project, and we are pleased to strengthen our role,” said the company’s vice president, Thomas Rttmann, according to the German news agency.
There is also talk of reviving the MidCat gas pipeline project to transport Algerian gas from Spain, which imports about 40 percent of Algeria, to France.
Algeria is facing a difficult choice
The gas crisis in Europe and the war in Ukraine threw Algeria into the international spotlight and diplomatic momentum, but it made this Arab country a difficult choice between the Russian and Western camps.
In recent weeks, the American, Italian, French and German visits have continued to search for alternatives to gas, but Moscow took advantage of the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, to try to cut off the road to the West and woo Algeria in its square with a visit paid by its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday.
During the visit, Lavrov tried to remind the Algerians that there is an “additional feature that distinguishes the relations of the two countries is that both countries are members of the Group of Friends of the United Nations Charter,” noting that his country has enough buyers for its energy resources outside the scope of Western countries.
Last September, Algeria and the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom pledged to work together in the field of gas production and transportation, and announced that the “authentic gas field”, which is being jointly developed, will enter production in 2025.
From Ukraine, there was another move to block the road to Russia, as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held phone talks with his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra, on Sunday, reviewing bilateral relations between the two countries and prospects for strengthening them in various fields.
Lavrov’s visit also came after another by his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, as it was the first of its kind for an American foreign minister in 22 years, and amid Western reports that spoke of American pressure on Algeria to increase gas supplies to Europe and an attempt to co-opt this country in the Western ranks.
The Algerian expert in energy affairs, Mahma Bouziane, says that relations between Algeria and Russia are governed by “deep historical and strategic ties, such as arms confiscations, as Algeria is the third largest buyer of Russian weapons with about $11 billion.”
He added, to Sky News Arabia, that “Russia is trying to maintain the price of gas, and coordinate with Algeria in this, and that the increase in gas production of any country is linked to the possibility of additional production capacities, but the reality of the gas industry today globally is under the influence of the investment deficit, which limits possibility of increasing production.
hammer and anvil
Despite the European rush, energy experts do not expect Algeria to be able to save Europe and rid it of dependence on Russian gas, according to the German Radio website.
It quoted energy expert George Zakman as saying: “Algeria cannot produce more gas overnight,” even if the country has “very large gas reserves.”
As for economic analyst Cyril Federshofen, he says that “Algeria is facing a difficult situation,” adding that “if it wants to continue as a major source of energy and help Europe, this is logical, but this will threaten its relations with Moscow.”
And he added: “It is not clear to what extent Algeria can be an actual alternative to Russia, at a time when it is suffering from the stagnation of its oil exports due to a lack of investment in the sector, and the rapid growth of domestic demand.”
Hussein Kadri, professor of political science and international relations at the University of Algiers, says that the diplomatic momentum that the country has witnessed since the outbreak of the crisis in Ukraine and the Russian gas crisis “put the country between a rock and a hard place.”
He added, to Sky News Arabia, that “Algeria can be an alternative, but at the same time it needs investment because its energy capabilities do not allow it to replace Russian gas in the short term.”
#rock #anvil #Algerias #gas #confused #Russian #Western #camps