Algeria's Sonatrach and its Nigerien counterpart Sonidep are expanding their cooperation across the entire oil value chain, encompassing exploration, refining, and marketing. This development follows a period of diplomatic rapprochement between Algiers and Niamey, with the renewed focus on oil matters taking shape through several bilateral meetings held in 2026.<\/p>\n
A significant aspect of this collaboration is the ongoing technical review of the Bilma oil block, located in northeastern Niger, which is being conducted by Sonatrach's technical teams. A meeting in Algiers on August 29, 2026, was specifically dedicated to revising the feasibility study for this block, underscoring the renewed bilateral efforts. Any future development of the field would be governed by a production-sharing contract, ensuring the Nigerien state retains ownership of the resource. Algerian Minister of State and Minister of Hydrocarbons and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, oversees this file, with Sonatrach President Nour Eddine Daoudi leading the technical review.<\/p>\n
Cooperation also extends to an older block situated in northern Niger, near the Algerian border, where an exploration well was officially launched during a high-level binational ceremony. This well is intended to better characterize the area's geological potential. Sonatrach reportedly holds a permit for this perimeter dating back several decades, with an associated production-sharing contract reportedly revived more recently, according to statements attributed to Nigerien authorities. Beyond these specific blocks, the partnership is further solidified by several memorandums of understanding between Sonatrach subsidiaries, specializing in geophysics, drilling, and distribution, and Sonidep, led by Ali Seibou Hassane.<\/p>\n
This renewed push on the Nigerien side aligns with the mandate of transition president Abdourahamane Tiani. The immediate next steps are expected to involve the finalization of the Bilma block's technical review and the continuation of exploration work on the border block, though a detailed timeline for these developments has not been made public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Algeria and Niger have agreed to expand their oil cooperation across the entire value chain, from exploration to refining and marketing, building on a recent diplomatic rapprochement between Algiers and Niamey. This initiative involves key projects, including the technical review of the Bilma oil block and exploration work on a border block.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-algeria"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}