Chevron Corp. is looking to search for energy in Algeria, and Algeria intends to wrap up talks with them this year.
The discussions take place as American and European businesses intensify their efforts to extract oil and gas from the area and help offset supply losses from Russia due to sanctions.
“We are in discussions on the choice of the perimeters,” Toufik Hakkar, CEO of state energy firm Sonatrach, told Bloomberg. “The contractual aspects remain. Our objective is to conclude a contract during this year.”
Algeria, an OPEC member, has some of Africa’s biggest oil and gas reserves and already exports significant volumes to Europe. However, years of mismanagement and a lack of investment have hindered efforts to pump more.
Western oil companies are pushing harder now that Russia has invaded Ukraine. Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, and the CEO of Eni SpA traveled to Algiers last month in an effort to increase gas imports from that nation.
They happen as the Biden administration pushes American businesses to increase exploration in an effort to prevent oil and gas costs from rising on international markets.
