If Russia's exports shrink, Algeria is ready to supply Europe with additional quantities of gas
The Algerian Oil and Gas Group (Sonatrach) has expressed its readiness to supply Europe with additional quantities of gas through the gas pipeline linking Algeria and Italy, in the event that Russian exports are reduced due to the war in Ukraine, according to a statement by the company's CEO on Sunday.
In an interview with the French-language newspaper "Liberte", Taoufik Hakkar said that Sonatrach "is a reliable gas supplier for the European market and is ready to support its partners in the long term in case the situation deteriorates."
He added that the availability of additional quantities of natural gas or liquefied gas is linked to "meeting the demand in the national market" and "contractual obligations" with foreign partners.
According to Hakkar, Sonatrach "has untapped export capabilities through the Transmed pipeline" linking Algeria and Italy through Tunisia, which can be used to "increase quantities towards Europe."
The transit capacity of the Transmed gas pipeline is 32 billion cubic meters annually, four times the volume of the Medgaz pipeline that supplies Spain with Algerian gas.
Sonatrach's CEO added that Algerian gas can reach countries that are not connected to the gas pipelines, through liquefied gas transported on ships, noting that Europe is the "natural and preferred market" for Algeria, which currently contributes 11% of Europe's gas needs.
Former Energy Minister Abdelmajid Attar explained that "Algeria exports about 22 billion cubic meters through the Transmed pipeline," which has a capacity for another 10 billion cubic meters for export.
Attar, who previously managed the Sonatrach group, added to AFP that gas can also be liquefied and sent through natural gas tankers, knowing that "the liquefaction units in Algeria are being exploited only at a rate of 50 to 60% of their capacities."
However, Algeria alone cannot compensate for the decrease in the supply of Russian gas, according to the former minister. However, "in the medium term, in four or five years, Algeria will be able to send larger quantities," noting the need to "develop new reserves consisting mainly of unconventional gas" (shale gas).
Algeria plans to invest $40 billion between 2022 and 2026 in oil exploration, production and refining, as well as gas exploration and extraction.
The Council of Energy Ministers of the European Union will hold an emergency meeting Monday in Brussels, noting that many European countries rely heavily on Russia for gas supplies.
Plane carrying 14 people crashed in Comoros
On Saturday, rescuers were hard at work in the Indian Ocean archipelago to find possible survivors of the flight between the capital Morono and the town of Fomboni on the island of Moheli.
The small Cessna plane was reported missing by airline AB Avitation when the aircraft faded from radar about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) from its destination.
"I come here to find out about the information for the flight that goes to Moroni in Moheli because my mother was there.There is no news, the head of the agency Mr. Ayad (in Bourhane, CEO of the company AB Aviation) has already come but not yet to give us news."said Mohamed Maoulida, son of one of the missing.
"I have no more hope. The information circulating here shows that we are waiting for nothing at all, the misfortune is the fact that we are told that we have found packages and debris, we don't We didn't need to know that, we need information about our families." explained Idi Boina, whose sister disappeared in the accident.
Among the passengers on board the plane, 12 are Comorians, the two pilots are Tanzanians.
Three speedboats had been dispatched to the estimated crash site, senior police officer Abdel-Kader Mohamed said.
Authorities said they had requested help from the neighboring French territory of Mayotte.
Chad: an anti-junta and anti-France demonstration in N'Djamena
In Chad, a demonstration against the military junta in power and against France accused of supporting the regime was organized on Saturday in the capital N'Djamena.
Nearly 500 people responded to the call to demonstrate by the opposition platform Wakit Tamma and chanted slogans hostile to the junta.
Some of them accused France of exploiting the Chadian military.
More than ten months after the death of President Idriss Déby Itno on April 20, 2021, and the immediate seizure of power by his son General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno at the head of a transitional military council since then.
"By what right can we accept that the French who are not accepted in West Africa must come back here to us? By what right? Nobody knows. If they are as strong as that, they will not just go to war in Ukraine." said Wakit Tamma member Avocksouma Djona.
Despite the dissolution of parliament and the government, the junta promised an inclusive national dialogue with members of the opposition and armed rebel movements . A dialogue that has still not taken place.
"Today if I left like the other Chadians, it is because I want my country to be transformed. I want there to be a transformation in this country on the social level, on the economic level and on the political level. Politically, I want there to be respect for democracy. When we talk about democracy, there is freedom of expression, there is the organization of transparent and free elections. " retorted Madjibeye Modeste, a protester.
Chad's transitional military council promises free and democratic elections within 18 months, renewable once . A promise that had encouraged France, the European Union and the African Union to support this general regime.