A month before Larbaoui's appointment Tebboune signed the decree sacking Sonatrach's president director-general (PDG) Toufik Hakkar and in a move unprecedented even for the destabilised national oil company all eight Sonatrach vice-presidents...
After hydrocarbon sales plunged by some 40% to $20bn in 2020 – the year of Covid-driven 'demand destruction' in energy markets – state energy giant Sonatrach's media savvy CEO Toufik Hakkar rushed to announce that in 2021 oil and gas 'production rose by 5% [while] exports rose by 19% in volume terms and by 70%' in dollars to an estimated $34...
Those looking for an accelerated liberalisation or reform of Algeria's key economic institution state energy company Sonatrach now led by Taoufik Hakkar should take account of the backgrounds of Tebboune and key allies such as Industry Minister Ferhat Aït Ali...
For now the biggest problems are at home where an economic downturn exacerbated by the precipitous fall in oil prices has added to the pressures on Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerrad Energy Minister Mohammed Arkab and the director-general of state energy giant Sonatrach Toufik Hakkar...