Algerian interim president Abdelkader Bensalah
IOCs retain Algerian caution
Sceptical Western investors adopt wait-and-see attitude even after Algeria’s interim government agreed a draft hydrocarbons law
Algeria is set to move away from an onerous tax regime that has seen international oil companies (IOCs) stay away in recent years, under a draft law announced in October by interim president Abdelkader Bensalah, who replaced the ousted Abdelaziz Bouteflika in May after weeks of riots. But it remains to seen whether it will be enough to fire potential investors’ enthusiasm. Officials say the law is a return to the IOC-friendly regulatory framework of the 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in rapid growth in oil and gas output. That framework was ditched in 2005, but tighter rules deterred IOCs and saw exploration stagnate. Auctions for exploration licenses flopped in 2010 and 2014, with only si
Also in this section
17 January 2025
Supply glut or supply deficit are both plausible outlooks, with tariffs and sanctions among the key risks that could swing the pendulum
17 January 2025
European Commission is on its way to meeting clean energy goals, but energy security concerns and higher costs may give it second thoughts
17 January 2025
The CEO of QatarEnergy has highlighted the potential impact a new EU directive could have on energy exports to the continent
16 January 2025
The government’s resource nationalism is aggravating the NOC’s debt position and could yet worsen if also tasked with the decarbonisation shift
