State of the Energy Sector One Year On from the Appointment of Mr. Youcef Yousfi as Minister of Energy and Mines

摘要

In the 12 months since May 2010, a new management team has taken over at the top of the Algerian oil and gas industry. Mr. Nordine Cherouati replaced Mr. Mohamed Meziane as Chairman of Sonatrach on 3 May 2010, while Mr. Yousef Yousfi became Minister of Energy and Mines in place of Mr. Chakib Khelil on 28 May 2010. These developments followed the Sonatrach "affair", which is far from over. The company's former Vice-President for Downstream Operations, Mr. Abdelhafid Feghouli, who was appointed acting Chairman following the forced exit of Mr. Meziane, subsequently faced criminal charges in his turn and was remanded in custody in December 2010. The whole of the national oil company's former management team, composed of the Chairman and four vice-presidents in charge of separate business units, has completely disappeared, therefore. The first guilty verdicts started to be handed down in May this year, with Messrs. Meziane, Feghouli and some other senior executives all sentenced to terms of imprisonment, but the judicial process is only just beginning, since this scandal is a veritable multi-headed hydra and other alleged offences are under official investigation.