Algeria and Niger have resumed cooperation in oil exploration as economic and political bilateral relations deepen further. The Algerian company National Drilling Company (ENAFOR), a subsidiary of the Algerian state-owned Sonatrach, launched drilling operations on August 13 for an oil exploration well in Kafra, in the northern desert of Niger, near the Algerian border. The official launch took place during a ceremony presided over by the Algerian Prime Minister, Sifi Ghrieb, and Niger’s Prime Minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine.
A statement by Niger’s Ministry of Petroleum declared the operation “a historic turning point for bilateral cooperation and the Nigerien petroleum sector” and reflects the desire of both countries to strengthen hydrocarbon development.
While an agreement had been reached with Sonatrch in 2005 for an exploration permit for the Kafra block, covering an area of 23,737 km², operations have only now begun. The region is located near the Algerian city of Tafassasset, to which Algeria is building a trans-Saharan railway from Algiers to this city near the Niger border. The railway will eventually cross the Sahel and the Central African Republic.
