Cooperation in the oil, natural gas, and mineral resources between Egypt and Algeria was the focus of the meeting between Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Mohamed Sofiane Berrah, Algeria’s ambassador to Egypt.

The meeting precedes the Egyptian-Algerian Joint Higher Committee meeting, set to convene in Egypt at the end of this month, which is expected to boost bilateral energy and trade relations significantly, according to a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

During the meeting, Badawi asserted the strong Egyptian-Algerian relations and the growing cooperation in the oil and natural gas sector between the two countries, pointing to the Project which was awarded recently to the Petroleum Projects and Technical Consultations Company (PETROJET) as an example of this Cooperation. The company was selected as the general contractor for developing Phase II of the Hassi Bir Rekaiz field for Sonatrach Petroleum Corporation, securing a contract valued at over $1 billion.

The project includes constructing a central processing facility with a capacity of 31,500 barrels per day (bbl/d), the associated infrastructure, and extending 217 kilometers (km) of pipelines.

For his part, Berrah affirmed the robust relations and mutual interest in enhancing energy sector cooperation. He pointed out that the upcoming Joint Higher Committee Meeting, chaired by the prime ministers of both countries, will discuss several files aimed at increasing trade exchange from $1 billion to $5 billion in the future.

The meeting builds on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in October 2022 between the two nations. That MoU laid the groundwork for expanded cooperation in oil, natural gas, and mining, as well as collaboration in marketing petroleum products.

According to the MoU, the two countries are also exploring the establishment of a joint engineering and project execution company.