Algeria’s National Agency for the Valorisation of Hydrocarbon Resources (ALNAFT) has awarded exploration licenses of five regions, out of six, to leading oil companies through the “Algeria Bid Round 2024” competition.

The six proposed areas included Grand M’Zaid located in the Oued Mya basin; Ahara located in the Illizi basin; Reggane II in the Reggane basin; Zerafa II located in the Ahnet Gourara basin; Toual II located in the Berkine basin; and Guern El Guessa II located in the Gourara Timimoun basin.

According to ALNAFT, seven bids were received. After the evaluation session, five areas were granted as follows; Ahara awarded to a consortium including TotalEnergies and Qatar Energy; Reggane II awarded to a consortium of Eni and PTTEP; Zerafa II awarded to ZPEC; Toual II awarded to consortium including Zangas and Filada; and Guern El Guessa II awarded to SINOPEC. The contracts of these blocks will be signed with Sonatrach within the next few days, ALNAFT said.

Algeria, one of Africa’s largest oil and gas producers, has periodically launched international bid rounds to attract foreign investment to its hydrocarbon sector. First bid rounds were launched in the early 2000s following the Hydrocarbons Law of 2005.