Algeria 'Hooked on Hydrocarbons': Bouteflika

Algeria’s ailing veteran state president Abdelaziz Bouteflika has written of the “necessity of freeing our country from its dependency” on oil and gas, according to state news agency APS.

In his March 8 International Women’s Day address, he cited the role of women in Algeria’s 1954-62 war of independence and more recently in Algeria’s economic diversification, with women now heading more than 10% of private enterprises, before turning to challenges facing Algeria today.

“I would underline primarily the necessity of freeing our country from its dependency on hydrocarbons and on fluctuations in world markets. That demands from us all, people and state, more and serious efforts in building a diversified economy,” continued his speech, read by Imane-Houda Faraoun, Algeria’s posts and information technology minister, at an event attended by his prime minister, Abdelmalek Sellal.

The speech also addressed the need to tackle Islamic militancy and, separately, youth alienation. 

Algeria is slowly rebuilding its gas production capacity, but exports may in the medium-term be constrained by the need for gas in its domestic market. ExxonMobil and Eni last week signed up with state Sonatrach to explore offshore Algeria, and Anadarko signaled in December it plans to expand investment in the country's upstream. But some of its giant gas fields like Hassi R'Mel urgently need reinvestment to extend their producing lives.

Mark Smedley