Sarkozy to negotiate a “privilege contracts” so as to make a success of his programme

France needs Algerian gas

Sarkozy to negotiate a “privilege contracts” so as to make a success of his programme

El Khabar, 1 July 2007

France supply with natural gas is to be at the crux of the French president talks with his Algerian counterpart President Abdelaziz Bouteflika during his forthcoming 10 July visit so as to insure “France’s energy security”, facing sensitive stakes to achieve an acceptable economic growth.
The new economic data show that France needs new energy resources especially when it comes to natural gas so as to reach its goals namely increasing the last year’s 2.3% growth rate to reach 3.3%. The French industrial and production system, which is facing a fierce competition within a European and an Asian context, needs to “free oneself” from dependency in terms of gas supplies imposed by its two neighboring countries Spain and Italy, linked with secular supply relations with Algeria through the two Trans-Mediterranean pipelines.
However, despite the fact that the economic experts and economic operators insisted, in their recommendations to the conference on the strategic industry, on the need for Algeria to make use of its pressure tools as the first gas supplier to Europe, while South Korea and Saudi Arabia managed to become the 1st gas producer before the USA, in spite of the fact that the latter is not a genuine gas producer, Algeria remains the only country in the world still selling gas at the lowest prices in the international markets, the fact that may have attracted Nicolas Sarkozy interest to Algeria so as to negotiate “privilege contracts” in this field that serves his government programme.

01-07-2007
By L. Bourabia/ Translated by N. K