Chevron Seeks To Finalise Petrol Exploration Agreement In Algeria

Chevron has intensified attempts to secure an energy exploration agreement with Algeria and is evaluating the country's alleged enormous shale gas potential according to sources with knowledge of the plans, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Other large energy companies, such as Eni and TotalEnergies, consider Algeria and North Africa as potential replacements for Russia's natural gas supplies to Europe after the Russian invasion of Ukraine cut off those supplies to the West.

Chevron sent personnel to Algiers to investigate potential, and some of those representatives met with Algerian officials recently, according to sources quoted in the Journal.

The enormous shale petrol reserves Algeria is thought to have are also being evaluated by Chevron.

According to statistics gathered by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Algeria is thought to have the third-largest shale gas reserves in the world, with 706.9 trillion cubic feet, surpassing the U.S.'s shale gas reserves, which are estimated to be 622.5 trillion cubic feet.

According to estimates, Algeria has larger shale gas resources than only China and Argentina.  

“Algeria holds a world-class petroleum system with significant potential for conventional and unconventional oil-and-gas exploration,” a spokeswoman for Chevron told the Journal but declined to comment on specific opportunities or discussions.

Chevron conducts business in the Mediterranean and has an interest in the enormous Leviathan gas field, which was discovered between 2000 and 2010 and is one of the greatest deepwater gas discoveries ever made.

The U.S. supermajor also runs the Nargis Offshore Area Concession in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, which is located off the coast of Egypt. Eni made an important new petrol discovery at the Nargis-1 exploration well in the region last month.

Chevron Holdings is the area's operator and holds a 45% interest in the well.

Major oil and gas companies are currently seeking to finalise more agreements in the North African and Mediterranean regions to sell gas to Europe, which intends to stop using Russian gas by 2027.

Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni, stated last month in an interview with the Financial Times that Europe should look to Africa for a "south-north" energy axis that would transport gas from Africa to the EU.