• Chad requests technical and institutional support from Algeria
• Talks focused on skills transfer, with no investment deals announced
• Hydrocarbons remain central to exports and public revenue

Chad has asked Algeria to support efforts to strengthen its hydrocarbons and mining sectors, as part of a broader push to improve performance and governance. The request was made during a visit by Chad’s minister of Petroleum, Mines and Geology, Ndolenodji Alixe Naïmbaye, who met her Algerian counterpart, Mohamed Arkab, from December 15 to 18, 2025.

Discussions centered on technical skills transfer, including geological mapping, exploration, and mineral resource management, as well as institutional support and regulatory oversight in the hydrocarbons sector. No investment commitments or joint industrial projects were announced following the meetings.

An oil producer since the early 2000s, Chad recorded crude output of around 120,000 barrels per day in 2023, according to World Bank data. Despite the sector’s weight, hydrocarbons remain weakly integrated into the broader economy, with the country still heavily dependent on external expertise for exploration, regulation, and long-term planning.

In this context, capacity building has become a key priority for improving governance of the extractive sector, particularly hydrocarbons. According to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), extractive activities accounted for more than 80% of Chad’s exports and around 40% of public revenue in 2022, based on data from the Chad EITI 2022 report finalized on June 16, 2025.

The EITI has also pointed to the need to strengthen oversight institutions, notably the Société des Hydrocarbures du Tchad, to improve financial transparency and revenue management at a time of persistent budgetary pressure.

The outreach to Algeria fits into a broader energy cooperation drive launched by Algiers in recent months, focused on sharing hydrocarbons expertise with African partners. For Chad, the discussions come as the issue of developing associated natural gas is gradually regaining prominence in the national energy debate, alongside the stated objective of increasing oil production to 250,000 barrels per day by 2030.

Earlier in December, Ecofin Agency reported that operator Perenco had commissioned a facility to use part of the associated gas from the Badila oil field to generate electricity in Moundou, the country’s second-largest city. While limited in scale, the project highlights persistent structural constraints, notably the absence of a national gas collection and processing network.

Abdel-Latif Boureima