Hokkar: An Algerian-Russian partnership to exploit the two hydrocarbon fields in Hassi Messaoud – Al-Hiwar Algeria

The President and Director General of the Sonatrach complex, Toufik Hakkar, announced that the exploitation of two hydrocarbon fields, southeast of Hassi Messaoud (Ouargla), in partnership with the Russian “Gazprom” will begin in 2028, indicating that the volume of investment is close to one billion dollars.
Mr. Hokkar explained, in an interview with the “Russia Today” channel, broadcast on Friday in the context of a state visit by the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, to the Russian Federation, at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Mr. Vladimir Putin, that the Sonatrach complex works with “Gazprom”. On developing the two fields discovered in the “Al-Assal” field patch (about 140 km southeast of Hassi Messaoud), “by awarding tenders for drilling and building factories to process natural gas, and it is expected that the first production will be in 2028.”
The official pointed out that Sonatrach and “Gazprom” worked on “developing a development plan, and in July 2022 we were able to finish it and send it to the National Agency for Hydrocarbons Valuation for approval, and that was done in the same month.”
Mr. Hokkar revealed that the plan “is based on investing about $950 million in two phases in order to produce about 2 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, more than 1,000 tons per day of condensate, and approximately more than 220 tons of liquefied petroleum gas.”
The CEO considered that this production “will strengthen the partnership between the two parties, as well as the national production of hydrocarbons, because there is a great demand today for natural gas in the international market, and this enables us to value these discovered resources between the two parties.”
He added, “We will work together to develop these two discoveries, which were recently reinforced by a third discovery, and this is an encouraging thing for the partnership and moving forward to develop these fields.”
As for the relationship with Russian companies, Mr. Hakkar explained that the relationship with them “does not stop at research and exploration with Gazprom,” pointing out that the complex “also works with other Russian companies in services and building factories.”
These partnerships are “important for Algeria because it is looking to develop and diversify all partnerships, because today we have partnerships with many countries, including European, Asian and American ones, and we also have very good relations with Russian companies,” says the CEO.
Mr. Hokkar emphasized that “Gazprom is a reliable partner for Sonatrach,” and that they are working together to develop some discoveries and patches in Algeria, “especially since there will be an important demand for gas in the coming years.”