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,
Also in this section
7 November 2025
The Russian company’s German assets are under Berlin’s management and are exempt from sanctions, for now, but a permanent solution still needs to be found
6 November 2025
The Russian firm made a significant attempt to expand overseas over the past two decades but is now divesting its global operations
6 November 2025
After years of pursuing ideologically driven climate leadership, Western powers are now stepping back under mounting political pressure and rising populist opposition—prompting concern essential climate action could be sidelined
5 November 2025
Construction of the pipeline in Afghanistan is making tangible progress, but extending it into Pakistan and India remains unrealistic for political reasons
