Algerian President of Sonatrach, Mohamed Meziane speaks during a plenary session at the 19th World Petroleum Congress in Madrid on July 2, 2008. OPEC president OPEC Chakib Khelil said Tuesday the oil cartel was concerned about future demand, underlining that the cartel is in no mood to pump more crude to cool record prices. AFP PHOTO/PHILIPPE DESMAZES
Sonatrach boss in graft probe
Mohamned Meziane, the head of Algerian state energy company Sonatrach, has stepped aside after being placed under judicial investigation as part of a corruption investigation, according to reports.
Neither Meziane nor other Sonatrach officials could be reached for comment by Reuters. A report in Algeria's El Watan newspaper said that a judge had ordered Meziane and other officials to be put under investigation following corruption allegations.
Two industry sources with ties to Sonatrach told the news agency that Abdelhafid Feghouli, Sonatrach's vice-president for downstream, has been named as the company's interim chief executive.
A Justice Ministry official told Reuters it had no immediate comment.
Two industry sources with close dealings with Sonatrach told Reuters the newspaper report was accurate. A third industry source, who also has contacts with Sonatrach, said in total 10 senior managers at the company had been placed under investigation.
Abdelmajid Attar, a former chief executive of Sonatrach, said the investigation was a "real earthquake" but that he did not expect it would have a major effect on the company's operations.
"There is a risk that its reputation will be affected. But regarding the business, I'm not expecting any major delays. Never forget that Sonatrach is Algeria's main source of income," he told Reuters.
Algeria's energy sector suffered a setback last year when it awarded only three out of 10 oil and gas permits on offer in a licensing round.
Officials blamed the global downturn for a lack of interest by international oil companies, but industry executives said the terms on offer were too tough.
Algeria has also experienced delays in completing two pipeline projects linking it to southern Europe. Sonatrach is a shareholder in the international consortia building both pipelines.
Sonatrach had said the commercial start-up of the Medgaz pipeline, which is to pump 8 billion cubic metres of gas a year from Algeria to Spain, would be in the fourth quarter of last year, but that has been pushed back to June this year.
The head of the consortium building the Galsi pipeline from Algeria to the Italian island of Sardinia said late last year the start-up was delayed to 2014 because of changes to the route.
The North African country exports about 60 Bcm of gas per year, most of it via subsea pipelines to Europe. Algeria also exports about 2 million barrels of oil per day.
