Algeria’s national energy company Sonatrach and Norway’s Statoil have agreed to intensify cooperation in Algeria, Norway and elsewhere.

“(The firms) will investigate the possibility of an integrated LNG project in Algeria, from exploration and development to the commercialisation of gas for the North American market,” Statoil said.
Spokesman Kai Nielsen said the companies will look for an LNG project and did not have a concrete project in mind at this stage. “It could be something entirely new. It could be the entire chain from exploration to production and marketing,” he said.
“This is a (memorandum of understanding) which is pretty open from the beginning...so we have to see what the possibilities are,” Nielsen said. The companies will also cooperate in developing petroleum projects off Norway and in other regions, Statoil said.
Statoil is already engaged in Algeria, with interests in a few of the North African country’s biggest gas projects in partnership with Sonatrach. It has stakes in the In Salah and In Amenas gas developments and in the Hassi Mouina gas block.
Algeria is an important country in Statoil’s strategy to supply gas to southern Europe as well as its main northern European and UK markets and to North America.
Statoil also buys LNG from Algeria for supply to the Cove Point terminal in the US state of Maryland before it can deliver its own LNG from a project in the Arctic from next year.
“In this agreement, Statoil sees a great opportunity for both companies to extend their cooperation, in Algeria, Norway and internationally,” statoil chief executive Helge Lund said in the statement. Norway would be a new area of operation for Sonatrach.