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Algeria earmarks $73 bn to boost energy outputs

Xinhua, May 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Algeria is set to earmark a 73 billion dollars budget to boost oil and gas investment of the state-run energy giant Sonatrach between 2016 and 2020, official said.

"The investment planned by Sonatrach for 2016-2020 exceeds 73 billion dollars, of which two thirds would be earmarked to boost exploration and production," Energy Minister Salah Khebri said in his opening remarks at the first Algerian-EU Energy Forum being held in Algiers.

"This budget shows the willingness of Algeria to maintain the required output to satisfy the growing national demand," Khebri noted.

He further recalled that the investment of Sonatrach and its partners hit 100 billion dollars between 2000 and 2015.

Khebri indicated that the North African nation's oil output reached nearly 200 million TOE in 2015 and should gradually resume growth in 2016 to hit 241 million TOE in 2020, thanks to the exploitation of new deposits and the improvement of recovery rate of existing fields.

Despite efforts of the government to diversify the economy, hydrocarbons are still accounting for 93.5 percent of the North African nation's total exports. It shows the full dependence of the nation on oil revenues to support national economy. Endit