Algeria’s Sonatrach, a  government-owned company formed to exploit hydrocarbon resources, achieved an 8% increase for total oil exports in late August 2016, reaching 71.5m tons of oil equivalent, compared with the 65.4m tons for the same period a year before. The group recorded a 43% boost for its year-to-date exports by pipeline during the same period, according to All Africa.

The rise in exports is attributed to the performance of northern refineries, with a 2% growth rate for exports of refined products in the first six months of 2016, when compared to the same period in 2015.  Furthermore, Sonatrach’s refineries processed 19.9m tons of crude oil and condensate by the end of August 2016, an increase of 7% when compared to 2015, Ennahar reported.

In terms of import cost of fuels, Sonatrach to save $710m due to a reduction of import volumes by the end of August. This represents a 43% decline when compared to 2015 figures.