The Algerian public group Sonatrach announced the signing of a gas contract with the Slovenian company, Geoplin for the supply of natural gas to Slovenia over a period of three years from January 2023.
The gas will be transported through the TransMed pipeline that connects the country to Italy, via Tunisia.
“This agreement allows Sonatrach, on the one hand, to regain a share of the Slovenian market that it supplied with natural gas through the Enrico Mattei pipeline (another name of Transmed, editor’s note) between 1992 and 2012, and on the other hand, to contribute to the satisfaction of the demand for natural gas of the European market,” said Sonatrach in a statement.
“The agreement reached today, the result of fruitful discussions between the two companies, denotes the excellence of their cooperation and reflects their common desire to consolidate their long-term relationship,” according to the statement, which does not specify the volumes involved.
According to media reports in Slovenia, the contract is for the supply of 300 million m3 per year, transported via the Transmed, which has a capacity of 33 billion m3 per year.
The signing took place during the visit to Algeria of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Tanjia Fajon, who was received Tuesday by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
“This agreement also strengthens Algeria’s role as a reliable long-term supplier to the European market,” said the Algerian group.
Algeria is the first African exporter of natural gas and the 7th worldwide.
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Algeria, whose proven natural gas reserves amount to nearly 2,400 billion m3, supplied about 11% of the gas consumed in Europe, compared to 47% for Russia.
Several European countries seeking to reduce their dependence on Russian supplies since the invasion of Ukraine have turned to Algeria, including Italy.
In the first nine months of 2022, Algeria supplied Italy with 17.3 billion m3, up 13% year-on-year, according to the Middle East Economic Survey.
But experts have questioned the North African country’s ability to significantly increase production in the short term.
