Old hands dominate Algeria’s upstream auction

The country’s latest licensing round attracted bids from IOCs and NOCs in a better showing than its last outreach to bidders

After more than ten years without open auctions, change is in the air in Algeria’s hydrocarbons sector.  The six blocks awarded by upstream regulatory Alnaft on 17 June could potentially add 20bcm/yr on average to the country’s production. The 2024 oil and gas licensing round covered six onshore gas blocks in southwestern and eastern parts of the country, stretching over 152,000km². Successful bidders comprised seasoned Algerian players such as TotalEnergies, Eni and Sinopec, along with newcomers such as state-backed QatarEnergy. Given Algeria’s well-earned reputation for imposing tough fiscal terms on investors, Alnaft will be happy at securing a respectable showing of oil company interest,