Algeria’s Sonatrach Group has revealed intentions to increase output of natural gas and crude oil by 20% in the next four years as new projects comes online.

According to the company’s vice president of exploration and production, Salah Mekmouche, Sonatrach will bring into production the Tiguentourine, In Salah and Timimoune natural gas projects as well as oil wells of the Berkine basin, after expending $9 billion per year on exploration and development projects since 2015.

The group, he said, also plans to boost production from old oil wells in Hassi Messaoud and “invest as little as possible and produce as much as possible.”

Algeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Africa’s biggest natural-gas producer, increased its crude production to 1.16 million barrels a day in November (the highest since 2013), after three years of drops and no change in 2015, a data compiled by Bloomberg revealed.

Company data has shown that the North African country’s state energy producer, will produce 69 million tons of oil equivalent in 2016, compared to the 67 million tons produced in 2015 while gas production will increase to 132.2 billion cubic meters from the 128.3 billion in 2015.

The group plans to drill 290 wells in 2017 of which 100 will be for exploration. Sonatrach drilled 253 wells in 2016. The company has 100 drilling rigs and another 19 are owned by foreign companies, Khelil Kartobi, head of Sonatrach’s drilling division said.

Anita Fatunji