Algeria’s president Abdelaziz Bouteflika instigated a cabinet reshuffle on 11 June, appointing Noureddine Bouterfa as oil minister of the Opec producer. Bouterfa most recently served as chief executive of state-owned utility Sonelgaz. He replaces Salah Khebri, who served as oil minister for just over a year. Bouterfa takes the helm of the ministry at a time when Algeria’s heavily hydrocarbons-dependent economy is reeling from lower oil and gas prices. Algeria’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen to $136.9bn from more than $186bn in 2014 and over $200bn in 2013, prime minister Abdelmalek Sellal says. The energy sector provides over 95pc of the country’s foreign exchange revenues. The finance minister was also replaced in the cabinet shake-up.
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