Sonatrach, the national state-owned oil company of Algeria has plans to develop multiple petroleum and petrochemical projects in Tiaret and Skikda which are in various stages of pipeline. These developments were shared by the company's CEO Toufik Hakkar during a recent press briefing.

According to him, there are major projects under study, such as a megaproject worth $6 billion for the transformation of gas and oil into value-added plastic products in Skikda, which is currently in the consultation stage with a foreign partner.

He also talked about an another key project related to methanol and derivatives worth $6 billion being studied and concerted with another partner.

The group plans to carry out other projects for the transformation of petroleum products into plastic, he said.

Regarding priority projects in petrochemicals, the CEO cited the Hassi Messaoud refinery with a capacity of 5 million tonnes per year, the agreement for which was signed in early 2020, adding that the technical studies were underway and that the start of works was scheduled for early 2021.

In this context, Hakkar highlighted the signing of a project in partnership with the Total group in Arzew (Oran), in addition to a second project in partnership with the Turks.

Another project under the Ministry of Industry and in which Sonatrach will take part concerns the extraction and transformation of phosphates and is, according to the official, “under study and will be signed before the end of the year with a partner to start the realization directly ”.

Regarding the company's strategy, Hakkar said that “the group has turned to international”, especially since it is present in Tunisia, Libya, Mali and Peru as well as in Europe (Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) through companies selling gas and petroleum products and in Turkey as part of a petrochemical project.

The group continues to explore profitable investment opportunities at the international level, as part of its expansion policy inside and out, he argued.