AFP: Algeria to double gas production in 10 years

Algeria plans to double natural gas production and hike oil output by 50 percent within 10 years helped by major exploration success in 2013, Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi said Thursday.

His comments come exactly one year ,after a bloody assault by armed Islamists at the In Amenas desert gas plant, one of the country's main upstream facilities, and amid steady decline in Algerian gas production since it peaked in 2005.

"Algeria plans very seriously to double its gas production," Yousfi told national radio, adding that shale gas would contribute to the ambitious production plan.

He put Algeria's recoverable reserves at between 25 and 30 trillion cubic feet.  MORE