Sonatrach's former CEO Mohamed Meziane jailed

Sonatrach's former CEO, Mohamed Meziane, has been sentenced to two years in prison - one of which was suspended - and ordered to pay a fine of around $7,000, for embezzlement of public funds. Meziane was suspended from his job in January 2010 while being investigated for corruption.

Several other top Sonatrach officials were also investigated and later fired along with Meziane. Four other defendants in the case, including Abdelhafid Feghouli, Benamar Touati, Mekki Henni and Nechnech Tidjini, were also sentenced to one year in jail. All five men pleaded innocence.

Meziane was appointed in September 2003 to oversee the running of Algeria's biggest firm which employs 125,000 people and has reportedly made $9.2 billion profit in 2008 for an annual turnover of $80.8 billion.

The ruling came amid rising unrest over lack of progress with reforms as promised by Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Sources: WSJ, AFP, Bloomberg, Reuters

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

Algeria set to account for 8.91 per cent of African oil demand by 2014

The latest Algeria Oil & Gas Report, compiled by BMI, forecasts that the country will account for 8.91 per cent of African oil demand by 2014, and will be responsible for 19.57 per cent of overall supply. It is expected that African regional oil use will average at 3.66mn b/d in the latter part of 2010, and then rise to around 4.13mn b/d by 2014.

Regional oil production, in 2009, averaged at an estimated 9.79mn b/d. It is set to rise to 12.52mn b/d by 2014. Oil exports show gradual growth, because demand growth is stalling the pace of supply expansion. In 2001, Algeria was exporting an average 4.86mn b/d. This total rose to an estimated 6.19mn b/d in 2009, and is expected to reach 8.40mn b/d by 2014.

Algeria's demand for natural gas is expected to reach 191bcm for 2014, production of approximately 385bcm, which suggests a rise of net exports from 124bcm in 2009 to 193bcm by the end of the period. In 2009, Algeria's share of regional gas supply was an estimated 40.40%, easing to 36.39% by 2014. The country's share of demand in 2009 was an estimated 21.03%, with 17.63% predicted by 2014.

Algeria is currently at the top of BMI's composite Business Environment (BE) ratings table, which combines upstream and downstream scores. It is third, between Gabon and Nigeria, in the updated upstream Business Environment Ratings. The country's rating is boosted by healthy oil and gas reserves, a large number of non-state companies active in the upstream sector and decent licensing terms.

Source: Companies and Markets

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.