The Minister of State, Minister of Hydrocarbons and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, received on Thursday in Algiers the CEO of the Spanish company Naturgy, Francisco Reynés. The discussions focused on ways to strengthen cooperation between Sonatrach and Naturgy, particularly in the strategic field of natural gas marketing.
During this meeting, which took place in the presence of the Spanish ambassador to Algeria as well as the CEO of the Sonatrach Group, Noureddine Daoudi, and several ministry officials, the two parties, who reviewed the status and prospects of the existing cooperation between the Sonatrach Group and Naturgy, notably in natural gas marketing, emphasized the importance of the strategic partnership that has united them for many years. According to a statement from the Ministry of Hydrocarbons, they also explored ways to expand their joint projects and identify new investment opportunities in the hydrocarbons sector in Algeria.
Mr. Arkab stressed the strength of bilateral relations and Sonatrach’s willingness to deepen its partnership with Naturgy by targeting key sectors that generate mutual benefits. For his part, Mr. Reynés expressed Naturgy’s pride in this historic collaboration and confirmed the Spanish company’s commitment to developing new gas and oil projects, thereby strengthening Algeria’s role in the energy market and consolidating energy cooperation with Spain.
In this sense, Naturgy remains a strategic partner of the Sonatrach Group, with which it maintains strong and long-standing relations, mainly in the natural gas sector. In the same context, it is recalled that Naturgy’s CEO also met last April in Algiers with his counterpart from Sonatrach to explore new avenues for cooperation in natural gas trade and to develop new projects in Algeria.
Sonatrach also plays a key role in the energy security of the Iberian Peninsula, as a major gas supplier to Naturgy. The Spanish company holds a stake in the Medgaz pipeline, which transports Algerian natural gas from the Hassi R’mel fields to Spain across the Mediterranean. It owns 49% of this project, while the Algerian national company Sonatrach holds the remaining 51%.
The two companies are bound by long-term gas purchase and sale contracts, regularly renegotiated to adapt to market developments.
These negotiations over gas prices remain at the heart of the partnership. In 2022, an agreement was signed to revise the prices of long-term gas supply contracts, reflecting market changes and thus contributing to the security of gas supply for the Spanish market, with Sonatrach’s deliveries exceeding 83 billion cubic meters over the past decade.