Abdelhamid zerguine biography of donald
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Its export revenues reached $56.1 billion (£36 billion) in 2010, contributing hugely to Algeria’s position as the fourth largest exporter of LNG worldwide, the third largest exporter of LPG and the fifth largest exporter of natural gas. SIPEX additionally operates in Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Tunisia. Attracting strategic partners will invariably benefit the sector by improving collaboration and securing the transfer of know-how, especially in the fields of management and technical expertise.
How do you assess the current performance of the petrochemicals industry, and how can it improve?
ZERGUINE:The existing government is strengthening the national industrial base by integrating the petrochemicals sector into Algeria’s growth strategy and stimulating downstream investment.
Our ambition is also to strengthen the management of our companies (in the areas of human resources, audits and ethics) and work toward a successful integrated energy policy using our own capabilities.”
Between 2012 and 2016, Sonatrach plans to spend a massive $68 billion, 82 per cent of which is for its upstream operations.
Our current objectives are directed toward: meeting domestic demand for fertilisers; identifying relevant materials to develop the agriculture sector; reducing the import bill; acquiring and capitalising on technological know-how; strengthening downstream small and medium-sized enterprises and small and medium-sized industries involved in petrochemicals projects; and valuing hydrocarbons resources to maximise the added value.
How can unconventional deposits of hydrocarbons and offshore areas be explored, and what is the potential for developing renewable energy?
ZERGUINE: We have launched several studies on measuring the potential of shale gas, in addition to forging cooperation agreements with a number of foreign companies.
“We have 1.5 million square kilometers of sedimentary deposits, which are potentially rich in hydrocarbons, and the majority has not been explored, so we plan to intensify the research in the Hassi Messaoud and Illizi fields. Plans are geared toward generating 22,000 MW of renewable energy between 2011 and 2030, of which 10,000 MW could be exported.
Sonatrach is also exploring and operating beyond Algeria, and its subsidiary SIPEX, working in association with the National Oil Corporation in Libya, has recently discovered two new oil fields 143 miles south of Tripoli.
Zerguine explains the company’s current priorities: “We wish to intensify our exploration policy in order to secure our oil and gas reserves, to leverage the country’s natural resources by updating and developing the domestic petrochemical industry, which is a good way to reduce our import bill and promote the development of our SME sector.
The group’s priority is to develop its exploration activities so as to assure Algeria’s domestic supply and also Sonatrach’s position in the worldwide energy market. The same approach is being adopted for the exploration in offshore areas.
With respect to renewable energy, the government has approved an ambitious programme aimed at developing energy efficiencies.
Other issues to address include improving the economical feasibility of renewable projects, developing efficient production techniques and creating the required infrastructure to better interconnect with Europe. We are also working to evaluate our considerable non-conventional hydrocarbons resources,” says Youcef Yousfi, Minister of Energy and Mines.
Sonatrach is also exploring and operating beyond Algeria, and its subsidiary SIPEX, working in association with the National Oil Corporation in Libya, has recently discovered two new oil fields 140 miles south of Tripoli. We are also working to evaluate our considerable non-conventional hydrocarbons resources,” says Youcef Yousfi, Minister of Energy and Mines.
Sonatrach is steadily exploring the architecture to optimise these, including the availability of basic raw materials, the proximity of large consumer markets for products stemming from the industry and increasing global demand.
“The results speak for themselves and demonstrate Sonatrach’s good health: the turnover for the 2011 financial year reached $72 billion, an increase of 29 per cent compared with 2010,” says Sonatrach’s CEO Abdelhamid Zerguine.
Present in 15 countries around the world, Sonatrach ships its products as far as Brazil, Japan and Korea.
This is together with expanding storage capacity and improving the treatment and transport of hydrocarbons.
The group, which can justifiably claim to be the mainstay of the Algerian economy, has diversified into the petrochemical industry, as well as renewable energy and saltwater desalination.
We wish to intensify our exploration policy in order to secure our oil and gas reserves. Abdelhamid Zerguine, CEO of Sonatrach |