Algeria's Sonatrach CEO Toufik Hakkar explained that Algeria currently has some billions of cubic meters of gas in surplus, but they are insufficient to replace Russian gas deliveries to meet Europe's gas needs.

He announced that Sonatrach discovered three oil fields this year.

This comes in parallel with mounting tension between the EU and Russia due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia exports about 40 percent of Europe's gas demand annually.

The role of Arab states to provide Europe with gas in substitution for the Russian gas has appeared clearly during this crisis.

Although gas and oil prices have soared after the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Algeria has decided to maintain “relatively appropriate” contractual prices with all of its customers, according to Hakkar.

However, Hakkar did not rule out “recalculating the gas price” destined for Spain, without providing further details.

Spain, which relies heavily on Algeria in gas supplies, made a radical change in its stance toward Western Sahara. The Spanish government expressed support for Morocco's plan to grant the Western Sahara autonomy.

The CEO of Algeria’s state-owned energy giant Sonatrach said on Friday that the company plans to invest 40 billion US dollars in oil and gas exploration and production between 2022 and 2026. 

The year 2022 “bears promising prospects for Sonatrach’s oil exploration and production,” the Algeria Press Service quoted Hakkar as saying.

Algeria’s Ministry of Energy and Mines affirmed on Thursday that the country’s oil output will move from 1,002,000 barrels per day in April to 1,013,000 barrels per day in May based on the 27th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting.