Algeria rearranges the deckchairs while the ship sinks
The country’s latest spat with a foreign investor is likely to be just as self-defeating as previous disputes
State-owned Sonatrach took the decision in April to revoke UK independent Sunny Hill Energy’s interest in the highly prospective Ain Tsila gas field on the grounds that Angelo Moskov who controversially took over Irish producer Petroceltic in 2015 and changed its name to Sunny Hill is more interested in a speculative investment than a long-term commitment to Algeria.
The issue of compensation will now be decided in the arbitration courts. Unfortunately, however, this is only the latest self-inflicted damage to Algeria’s hydrocarbons sector and the country as a whole.
Sonatrach, Algeria’s national energy company, has terminated the contractual interest held by the U.K. company Sunny Hill Energy through its wholly owned subsidiary Petroceltic Ain Tsila in the Ain Tsila gas field in southeast Algeria.
Sunny Hill Energy has invested hundreds of $ millions in the project. Sonatrach has offered no compensation in relation to their seizure of the interest. Sunny Hill Energy disputes the validity of the contract termination and, having taken legal advice, intends to pursue all legal recourse to compensate it for the loss of its interest which Sunny Hill Energy values well in excess of $1 billion.
Energean targets two years to transformation
Energean is on a path to transformation, with capital expenditure peaking in early 2022 and delivering – hopefully – 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2023.
The Energean Power hull
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Energean is on a path to transformation, with capital expenditure peaking in early 2022 and delivering – hopefully – 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2023.
“Energean is very different from the company that listed in London in 2018,” the company’s CEO Mathios Rigas told Energy Voice. The company is on its path to paying sustainable dividends, once its Israeli project comes onstream, and with significant ESG commitments.
Algeria: Sonatrach seizes Ain Tsila gas field asset from Sunny Hill Energy ans faces over USD 1 billion claim
19 Apr 2021
Petroceltic Ain Tsila in the
Ain Tsila gas field in southeast Algeria.
Sunny Hill Energy has invested hundreds of US$ millions in the project. Sonatrach has offered no compensation in relation to their seizure of the interest. Sunny Hill Energy disputes the validity of the contract termination and, having taken legal advice, intends to pursue all legal recourse to compensate it for the loss of its interest which Sunny Hill Energy values well in excess of US$1 billion.
Angelo Moskov, the Chairman of Sunny Hill Energy said,