ALGIERS: Algeria will increase crude output by at least 32,000 barrels per day (bpd) from July by starting production at two fields, the state energy firm Sonatrach said, part of a plan to reverse stagnant production.
The new production increase will come when the Bir Sebaa field start producing 20,000-25,000 bpd of crude in addition to 12,000-15,000 bpd from the Bir El-M’sena field in July, Sonatrach interim chief Said Sahnoun said, according to the official news agency APS.
Sahnoun said national production during the first four months of 2015 was unchanged from the same period a year earlier.
He gave no figures to APS, but the official output figure has been around 1.2 million barrels per day.
Algeria has struggled to draw foreign oil investment to help bolster its crude production which has remained around the same for the last three years. A bidding round in September last year awarded only 4 out of 31 blocks on offer.
Sonatrach has said it would stick to a plan to invest $90 billion over the next five years to boost production despite a crude oil price slide on global markets that has trimmed key revenues for the North African state.
Algeria’s state budget relies on energy for 60 percent, while the country’s oil and gas exports account for 97 percent of total sales abroad. Sonatrach has asked its service suppliers for a discount, according to sources, as a way to curb spending.
Sonatrach to raise output by 32,000 bpd
