The Minister of Energy, Noureddine Bouterfa, and the Chairman and CEO of the Algerian State Oil & Gas Company Sonatrach, Amine Mazouzi, on Tuesday met with Eni CEO, Claudio Descalzi, in Algiers. This latest meeting between the parties follows previous engagements in November 2015 and April 2016.

During the meeting, Claudio Descalzi and Amine Mazouzi signed an agreement propaedeutic to the extension of the production licenses for the ROD reservoir, its satellite fields and three fields in Block 403. These are considered to be particularly important assets as their discovery led to the establishment in 1995 of the first Groupement Sonatrach Agip in Algeria (GSA) and marked the start of a strong partnership between Eni and Sonatrach.

The renewal of the partnership between Eni and Sonatrach, enshrined in today's agreement, will bring about an ambitious programme of activities that will include advanced techniques for hydrocarbon recovery. The agreement also lays the foundations for the completion of the unitisation process between the SF field, where Sonatrach has a 100% stake, and the SFNE field, which is jointly operated by Eni and Sonatrach.

With this visit, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi has renewed the hope of a cooperation ever more fruitful either by re-launching gas development activities in existing concessions in the Country and by embarking on new renewable energy activities. The aim is to further strengthen the partnership between Italy and Algeria and between Eni and Sonatrach by a development model capable of enhancing the existing facilities of Eni and Sonatrach in Algeria.

Eni has been present in Algeria since 1981 and now participates in 32 mining permits. In the period between 2010 and 2015, the company invested $11.5bn in the development of hydrocarbons in Algeria, which represented approximately 26% of the total investment made by all international companies operating in the country. Eni's production in the country currently amounts to more than 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.