APS : Monday, 24 February 2020
ALGIERS- The projects of upgrading refineries will enable Algeria to export fuel from 2021, said Monday Director General of the Algiers refinery, Hassen Boukhalfa.
Algeria, which produced nearly 2.7 million tons of gasoline in 2019, had to import this fuel to meet the needs of the national market, which is close to 4 million tons, but with the increasing capacity of refineries in the north, which have been rehabilitated in recent years, the country should reach self-sufficiency in 2020 and produce surpluses for export from 2021, said the source.
Production capacities will increase further with the commissioning of the new refinery in Hassi Messaoud (Ouargla) in 2024, Boukhalfa said at the inauguration ceremony of the new facilities of the Algiers refinery, held in the presence of the Prime Minister, Abdelaziz Djerad.
According to Sonatrach’s forecasts, Algeria should produce in 2026 about 7 million tonnes, including 2 million tonnes for foreign markets, he added.
As for gas oil, Algeria will continue to import this type of fuel until 2023, before starting its first exports in 2024 with the commissioning of the Hassi Messaoud refinery.
In 2019, Algerian diesel production exceeded 8.5 million tonnes, while its consumption was over 10 million tonnes.
This pattern is not expected to change much over the next four years, but in 2024 national production will increase significantly to about 12.5 million tonnes.
Algerian refineries will continue to produce surpluses in 2025 and 2026, with 4 million tonnes of the 16 million tonnes produced locally being exported, according to the data presented by Boukhalfa.
