Emmanuel Macron’s visit to his counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune would have allowed “a rapprochement”, said the government spokesman.
«Announcements will be made soonon a possible increase in deliveries of Algerian gas to France, government spokesman Olivier Véran said on Sunday, the day after Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Algeria. According to Europe 1, negotiations are underway between Engie, whose president Catherine MacGregor was part of the official delegation, and Algerian officials, to bring this increase to 50% of current volumes.
«I can’t confirm it“, declared Olivier Véran on BFMTV, arguing that he had “not to comment on what falls under French diplomacy and Algerian diplomacy». Most “announcements will be made soon“, he added, pointing out that there had been “rapprochement in the context of displacementby Emmanuel Macron, from Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon.
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Gas volumes already secured
During his trip, the French president stressed that France “depends little on gas in its energy mix, around 20%, and in this set, Algeria represents 8 to 9%».«We are not in a dynamic where Algerian gas could change the situation“, he had also argued, observing that France had already “secure its volumes» for the winter, with stocks constituted at 90%.
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Algeria recently concluded agreements with Italy to increase its deliveries by the end of the year via the Transmed gas pipeline, of which it became the first supplier ahead of Russia, after the invasion of Ukraine. Since the start of 2022, Algeria has supplied Italy with 13.9 billion m3, exceeding the previously scheduled volumes by 113%. Algeria is Africa’s leading gas exporter and supplies around 11% of the gas consumed in Europe.