Page 11 - AfrOil Week 08 2021

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

Algerian president names new oil minister

ALGERIA ALGERIAN President Abdelmajid Tebboune Despite this political turmoil, Algeria’s gov-
has appointed a new oil minister to his cabinet, ernment does appear to be making progress
replacing Abdelmajid Attar with his predeces- with respect to the implementation of the new
sor, Mohamed Arkab. This is the second time oil and gas law that it rolled out in late 2019.
the post has changed hands in the last year, as Sources close to the matter told S&P Global
Arkab was dismissed to make way for Attar, the Platts earlier this week that they expected
former CEO of the national oil company (NOC) Algiers to approve all of the necessary docu-
Sonatrach, in mid-2020. ments by the end of March. If so, the national oil
As of press time, there was no information and gas regulator Alnaft may be able to launch a
available as to Arkab’s plans for the oil and gas new licensing round for exploration projects by
industry, which plays a central role in Algeria’s mid-year, Platts said. ™
economy. His appointment was part of a wider
effort by Tebboune to reorganise his cabinet,
according to a statement from the presidential
press service. (It also occurred just a few days
after the president dissolved Parliament, accord-
ing to press reports.)
Algeria’s president is currently drawing wide-
spread criticism because economic conditions
have declined since he assumed power almost
two years ago following the resignation of the
country’s long-time rule Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Oil and gas exports went down by 30% year on
year in 2020, and the government’s revenues
have followed suit.
Political tensions are also running high, as
the Hirak opposition movement is calling for
a new round of protests to mark the second
anniversary of Bouteflika’s exit. Hirak has not
embraced Tebboune, as its leaders believe the
incumbent president is too closely allied to his
predecessor.For his part, though, Tebboune has
released dozens of Hirak members from prison
within the last few weeks. Arkab is already a familiar figure in Algiers (Photo: OPEC)

Former VP urges Nigeria to authorise

full privatisation of refining sector

NIGERIA ATIKU Abubakar, the former vice-president “For decades, I have championed the privati-
of Nigeria, has urged the government to adopt sation of our economy and full deregulation of
plans for full privatisation of the country’s oil-re- our oil and gas sector, amongst other sectors,
fining sector. for greater service delivery and efficiency,” he
In a statement, Abubakar commended the declared.
current presidential administration, headed by In the past, Abubakar noted in his statement,
Muhammadu Buhari, for giving private com- Buhari’s party – the left-leaning All Progressives
panies the opportunity to build oil-processing Congress (APC), which now leads the federal
plants. But he also urged Buhari, who was his government – has generally been resistant to
rival in Nigeria’s 2019 presidential election, to go the idea of scaling back the state’s role in the oil
further and privatise the entire sector. and gas industry.
He also pointed out that his words were in Now, though, APC is “facing reality” and
line with his previous calls for reducing the has “embraced reason” by making room for pri-
state’s footprint in the hydrocarbon industry. vately owned companies, he said.

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