EurOil: Germany strikes gas pipeline deal with Algeria

German energy utility VNG has signed the country’s first pipeline gas deal with Algeria, with the latter’s state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach, the Algerian energy ministry reported on February 8.

The news was first broken by Bloomberg earlier the same day. Citing sources, the news agency said that the contract came into force earlier this year. Terms, such as length and volumes, are not clear. VNG, owned by EnBW, declined to comment to Bloomberg, and Sonatrach did not respond to a request to comment.

Germany, Europe’s largest economy and one of its largest gas markets, has been scrambling to find alternative gas supply after losing its imports of Russian gas in autumn 2022 following the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines. Primarily the country has resorted to LNG, which it began importing as early as the end of 2022. It wants to expand its liquefaction capacity to more than 70mn tonnes per year (tpy) by the end of the decade.

If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor.