Algerian, European Companies May Tap New Gas Fields to Boost Exports to EU: Commission

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Algeria could tap new gas fields in order to increase gas production and export more fuel to the EU with the help of European companies, European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said on Monday.

“Algeria has long been and still is an important and natural gas supplier to Europe. Europe is the biggest market for Algerian natural gas. We are long-standing partners and we would both benefit from increasing volumes of Algeria gas potentially available to export to Europe. This increase could be achieved in cooperation with European companies by tapping into new gas fields,” Simson told a press conference.

The European Union and Algeria share strong partnership in energy sector, Simson added.

“We want to consolidate them [EU-Algeria energy ties] & further develop our partnership. That is the purpose of my visit to Algiers this week,” Simson wrote later on Twitter.

The commissioner started a two-day working visit to Algeria on Sunday as part of the EU drive to diversify energy supplies and reduce dependence on imports of Russian fossil fuel.

In 2015, the two parties launched EU-Algeria strategic partnership on energy aimed at increasing cooperation on natural gas, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Algeria is the fifth biggest supplier of gas to the EU, which covered 8.2% of the bloc’s total natural gas demand in 2021, whereas the EU is the top importer of Algerian gas, according to the European Commission.