Theme: Algeria

Spanish energy firm Moeve, majority owned by Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala, said on Wednesday it had agreed to sell its Algerian oil assets to Indonesia’s state energy firm Pertamina. The deal includes Moeve’s minority stakes in the Rhourde el Khrouf, Bir el Msana and Ourhoud onshore oilfields in Algeria’s Berkine Basin. The company has also agreed to sell its minority stake in Algeria’s Timimoun onshore gas field, a person familiar with the matter said. The sale of its Algerian upstream assets will complete Moeve’s withdrawal from the exploration and production business.

A first convoy of Algerian soldiers was seen in northern Niger this weekend, a week after Algeria’s Parliament approved the deployment of troops to the neighboring country. According to RFI, about sixty Algerian tankers transporting fuel and secured by Algerian soldiers crossed the border with Niger, where they were welcomed by members of the Niger Armed Forces. Algeria’s Parliament approved the deployment on October 25, paving the way for the country’s first military mission abroad since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Reports diverge on the convoy’s destination: RFI mentions the city of Agadez, while the Soufan Center says the convoy reportedly reached Arlit on October 30. Algerian Senator Belkacem Boulghiti said the troops would protect economic infrastructure and oil facilities belonging to Algerian companies, and that Algeria is “not sending our soldiers to wage war in Niger.” Algeria’s national energy company Sonatrach, the Nigerien government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation are jointly developing a 4,000-km pipeline to carry Nigerian gas through Niger and Algeria and onwards to Europe. Morocco is promoting a rival pipeline along an Atlantic route drawing on the same Nigerian gas reserves, and the United Arab Emirates has agreed to support the project financially and technically.

The rivalry between Algeria and Morocco is projecting further south, into the Sahel, the Middle East Eye points out. In the region, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, united in the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), are trying to diversify their partners as they distance themselves from several of their former Western allies, according to the outlet.

Algeria is to send troops to Niger, its first foreign deployment since sending forces to Egypt during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the BBC reported. Algeria's upper house of parliament approved the move at an emergency session on Sunday, with 148 of 174 senators in favour, and the lower house backed it later, according to AFP. The troops are expected to protect energy facilities in northern Niger, near the Libyan border, including a planned pipeline that would carry Nigerian gas to Algeria. The timing and number of soldiers have not been announced.

Algeria's Council of the Nation, the upper house of parliament, approved on Sunday a proposal to deploy troops to neighbouring Niger to protect energy facilities, TRT World reported. A senator who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said 148 of the 174 seats voted in favour, and the lower house was expected to vote on the proposal later on Sunday. Al Jazeera reported the approval was unanimous. According to TRT World, any deployment abroad would be Algeria's first such military operation since it sent troops to support Egypt during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The proposal is linked to the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), which would carry natural gas from Nigeria through Niger and Algeria to European markets.

Algerian authorities announced on Sunday the arrest of 61 Moroccan nationals earlier this month on suspicion of planning “acts of sabotage”, according to Hespress, with AFP. The General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) said the 61, including a former soldier in the Moroccan army, “were preparing to commit acts of sabotage undermining security and public order”. Le Monde reported the same arrests.

Algeria sent fighter jets to Niger in late August to help thwart a coup attempt in Niamey, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said, according to Al Jazeera. Algeria’s Defense Ministry said that two patrols of Su-30 jets landed at Niamey airport, accompanied by a tanker, at the request of Nigerien authorities, according to AeroTime.