CAIRO: Algeria's state-owned energy firm Sonatrach is setting up an oil and gas joint venture with two Egyptian national companies, its chief executive officer said over the weekend. “We could invest around maybe USD15 billion but it is not settled yet,” Sonatrach CEO Mohamed Meziane said in an interview. “We are in the way of preparing for the board meeting and the general assembly, which will decide on the amount and the policy of investment for the next year and five years coming,” he added. The company also said it would meet with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) on Sunday to discuss the joint venture worth a reported $10 million. Ironically, the announcement of the new venture comes as Egypt's Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy reported that no new gas export deals would be signed before the end of 2010. According to Algerian reports, Sonatrach will hold a majority staken in the new company, Selena, and the two Egyptian companies will share the remaining portion of the new endeavor. “They will be in charge of exploration and production to find oil and gas in Egypt, Algeria and in third countries,” Meziane said. The deal comes as Sonatrach looks to the greater African continent as a means of expansion. Meziane said his company is looking to begin the new company as quickly as possible, in order to move it forward in a timely fashion. The company's president will rotate from an Egyptian company to the Algerian. “If the president is Algerian then the vice president will be Egyptian … and they will alternate every three or four years,” Meziane said. Deals between Algeria and Egypt did not seem likely only a few weeks ago after the World Cup qualifying matches between the two nations led to violence in both countries, with Egypt removing its ambassador to Algeria before allowing him to return this week. The violence, however, is not likely to interfere in the current deal, which all sides said would generate new capital for both countries and move toward greater expansion across Africa. **writing by Joseph Mayton BM
