Sonatrach seeks to develop collaboration with African partners

 
ALGIERS-The Sonatrach Group is working to develop collaboration with African hydrocarbon companies to find investment opportunities in the sector while banking on its capacities and funding from the countries of the continent, CEO Toufik Hakkar said Tuesday in Algiers.
 
Several hydrocarbon companies in African countries are increasingly mastering technologies including Sonatrach to raise the intra-African collaboration in this sector, said the CEO of Sonatrach at a press briefing on the sidelines of the 4th meeting of national hydrocarbon companies of member countries of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO).
 
"It is time for us to find within our Africa the expertise, technology, financing, and markets to meet our needs, which still remain heavily dependent on extra continental players,” he said.
 
Maintaining "strong" relationships based on complementarity and common interest with several foreign partners, Sonatrach has a “world reference” and it's ready to share it with African hydrocarbon companies, said Hakkar.
 
"In this regard, Sonatrach will spare no effort to share its experiences in technology on important issues and development processes of oil and gas production," he said, reaffirming the commitment of his group to achieve a high level of competitiveness in the energy field.
 
For his part, the Secretary General of APPO, Omar Farouk Ibrahim, recalled the missions of the African organization including technical and commercial collaboration between member companies in the hydrocarbon sector, while supporting the sharing of information and expertise in the sector.
 
Moreover, APPO supports the activities of the oil and gas industry of member states in a concrete way, while taking into account the challenges related to the energy transition.
 
Ibrahim urged APPO member countries to collaborate more to reduce dependence outside the continent in the search for solutions to performance in the entire process of exploitation of hydrocarbons.
 
The SG of APPO also commended Sonatrach’s expertise, which could benefit other African companies.
 
"We believe that instead of turning to Europe or America, we can find centers of excellence in the sector in African countries," he said.
 
He recalled the creation by APPO of "Africa Energy Bank", a bank dedicated to finding African financing for continental energy projects.
 
This bank has a US$ 5 billion capital financed jointly by Afrexim Bank and APPO.
 
For his part, the outgoing president of the meeting of national oil and gas companies of APPO member countries and CEO of Sonangol (Angola), Sebastio Gaspar Martins, called for the reorganization of APPO.
 
“African states must reduce dependence outside the continent regarding technical and financial resources. Intra-African collaboration should lead to significant progress,” he assured.