Gas continues to play an increasingly significant role in the global economic arena with the start of the year 2024. Between February 29 and March 2, major gas producers will participate in the 7th summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Algeria to discuss the significant role played by this forum on a global level, which has become no less important than the role of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
According to an interview with Afric Economy Newspaper, MR Choeib Boutamine CEO of Ranadrill Consulting said “Forum members will meet to deepen their internal cooperation and strengthen their relationship by utilizing their existing potential. By holding 69% of the world’s natural gas reserves, Forum members have a strong position to play an important role in international markets by maintaining smooth flows on the one hand and maintaining stable prices in the other”.
He Add “In this way, exporters can deliver profitable products, thus enabling national companies and stakeholders to attract more investment and maintain a steady supply of goods on the market”.
Regarding the role of gas as an alternative to clean energy, the Strategy Advisor in Energy Mr Boutamine believes that Amid the calls to phase out fossil fuels as they contribute to climate change; Natural gas is rising as a potential and crucial source of energy and an essential element for the industrial and agricultural sectors, classified as the cleanest among the 03 fossils, its carbon emissions are 60% lower than coal after burning”.
He said ”Relying on natural gas as a driver of the energy transition has to take a large widespread to gradually alleviate the impact of carbon footprint. This FORUM has to stretch its position responsibly as an actor to balance offer and demand out of speculation or political pressures”.
Algeria’s economy is competitive
Over the years, Algeria has successfully developed global investment relationships in the energy sector. Mr Boutamine said that as a reliable and trusted partner of its clients regionally and globally, Algeria remains the leading producer and exporter of natural gas on the African continent”.
“This unwavering commitment is reflected in the investments oriented towards this sector. Sonatrach has reserved 42 billion dollars for the development and expansion of its projects and of its investment strategy. The natural gas share of this envelope is 14 billion dollars in the period 2023-2027”. He adds.
“Algeria holds more than 4 TCM of natural gas of the conventional resources and roughly 20 TCM of Non-conventional resources, extracting these huge trapped volumes will be not achievable by Sonatrach only”.
He continued “That’s why It’s important to involve foreign investment, by the way, The Algerian Government has improved the climate of affairs by amending the hydrocarbons law’’.
