Algeria's oil revenues was estimated at $60 billion by the end of 2014 against $62 billion in 2013, meaning a $2 billion year-on-year shortfall, Minister of Energy, Youcef Yousfi said Saturday, Algeria Press Service reported.
"We made nearly $60 billion in exports [hydrocarbons] and will probably end the year with this income,'' said the minister at a press conference in response to a question on the impact of the drop in world oil prices on the revenues of Algeria's exports.
Algeria has maintained its level of oil revenues despite the drop in crude prices, which began in June he said, adding that "no one can predict the level of oil revenues in the future,'' The minister made the statement at the end of an inspection visit to two shale gas pilot wells in the basin of Ahnet located in In Salah.
Similarly, the price of natural gas will surely be affected by the decline in oil prices, since its price is indexed to crude, noted Yousfi while preventing the effect of this decline on gas countries where large projects may be postponed or cancelled due to lack of funding.
Despite continuous fluctuations in the international oil and gas markets, Algeria will continue to intensify the exploration of its mining resources and the development of already discovered fields, he said.
Thanks to this exploration effort, he said, Sonatrach was able to discover, in 2013 and 2014, nearly 7 billion barrels of oil equivalent including 4 billion of barrels of oil equivalent reinforced hydrocarbon reserves and fill the decline of previous years.
