The CEO of the Algerian Sonatrach group, Tawfik Hakkar, said that “the company has delivered 3.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the free market, with Italy the first beneficiary in light of the growing demand for the material since the launch of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

“Our obligations to Italy are one hundred percent fulfilled, and by the end of the year we will reach an additional 4 billion cubic meters. In 2023, we confirm that our production capabilities cover all our obligations very comfortably,” Hakkar told state television. .

In this context, the first spokesman for the Algerian oil and gas giant, Abdelmajid Attar, pointed out that “there is confusion and even deliberate mistakes by some parties that are working to weaken Algeria in this regard, but the work of the projects is a clear response to every attempt to confuse public opinion.”

In mid-July, the Italian groups Sonatrach, Eni, the American Occidental and the French Total signed a major contract worth four billion dollars for a period of 25 years, providing for the “sharing” of oil and gas production at a field in southeastern Algeria.

Algeria also announced “an increase in gas supplies to Italy, which, after the invasion of Ukraine, became its first supplier bypassing Russia.”