Gas and
Power
“North Africa Will Provide Close To Half Of European
Gas Imports By 2010," Prospex Report Shows
UK-based energy
market research firm Prospex released an in-depth report that analyzes
and forecasts the North Africa gas and power markets. Prospex findings
cover Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. In
its findings, Prospex reveals that North Africa has gas reserves of
7,651 bcm, or 40% more than Western Europe and 4.4% of the world total.
The region’s gas exploration industry is still fairly young. While
reserves in the mature European industry decline in the years ahead,
North African reserves may increase substantially as new discoveries
are made. Moreover, North African reserves are cheap to tap and transport
to nearby markets. This is a highly fortuitous match with rising European
gas demand. In particular, the southern European power sector has embarked
on a “dash for gas”. Gas consumption is surging, with much
more growth expected over the next decade. Substantial imports are needed,
today and for many years to come.
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Petroleum
Spain’s Repsol and Gas Natural to Invest $2.1
Billion in Gas Development in Algeria
The Spanish companies Repsol YPF and Gas Natural SDG have won a major
integrated liquefied natural gas project contract awarded by Algeria’s
oil firm Sonatrach. Over the next three decades, Repsol and Gas Natural
will share the tasks of production, exploration, liquefaction and distribution
of the gas extracted from the Gassi Touil Rhourde Nouse-Hamra region,
in southeastern Algeria for an investment worth more than EUROx 1.6
billion. Gassi Touil is located some 400 kilometers south of the Hassi
Messaoud oil hub.
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Telecom
Moroccan Telecom Regulator Approves New Fixed Telephony
Liberalization Plan
The board of directors of the Moroccan telecommunications regulatory
agency Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications
(ANRT) approved on November 8th the latest draft of the telecommunications
law that tackles the fixed telephony sector. The draft document removes
the monopolistic position of the phone operator Maroc Telecom and paves
the way for the entry of private operators in the market.
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Telecom/Internet
Lower DSL Prices in Tunisia
High-speed Internet access in Tunisia has reached its lowest prices
thus far. ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), which allows the
use of a telephone line as the medium for Internet access at broadband
speed is quickly taking hold as the prefer medium for access in the
North African country. The service in Tunisia is offered by one single
company, the state-owned telecommunications company Tunisie Telecom,
which ADSL subscriber base doubled from 4,000 in 2003 to 8,000 today.
The company’s 2005 target calls for a base of 20,000.
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Gas Transport
ABB Gets $90 Million Contract in Algerian Gas Pipeline
Sector
Zurich, Switzerland-based ABB has been hired by the Algerian petroleum
firm Sonatrach to expand and improve gas compressor facilities for the
country’s pipeline system. The improvements will speed up the flow
of Algeria’s natural gas.
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Foreign
Trade
Trade Deficit Widens in Morocco
The economic
environment in Morocco is not improving. The latest available indicators
for the first nine months of the year point to a weakening economy,
from the widening of the trade deficit, the increasing of the energy
import bill, to the sluggish performance of agriculture exports. The
only bright spots in the data released by the foreign currency exchange
board, affiliated to the custom service is the sustained increases in
tourism industry receipts and expatriate remittances, which grew by
7.2% and 9.7% year on year, respectively. In value terms, these growth
rates represent MAD 28.5 billion and MAD 26.7 billion, respectively.
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Corporate Affairs 