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Deciphering ...
Cabinet meeting on national gas policy : normal conditions of temperature and pressure
By Redouane malek
On 22 February 2016 , President Bouteflika chaired a cabinet meeting devoted to national gas policy , it was a Monday . On 22 February 1971 , President Boumediene also chaired a cabinet meeting on the nationalization of hydrocarbons . It was also a Monday . Two dates . A time gap of 45 years . Two events . In 1971 , President Boumediene was triumphantly asserting Algeria ’ s sovereignty over its hydrocarbons . In 2016 , President Bouteflika is intent on preserving Algeria ’ s sovereignty on its gas reserves . The two dates are strangely similar . If the latter sent , beyond the economic aspect , was an irreversible and strong message to France that Algeria was definitely conquering its wealth , the former is a first warning to those who are now trying to prevent Algeria from taking sovereign decisions to resort to the exploitation of its immense wealth of unconventional resources , including precisely and clearly France . On that 22 February 1971 , President Bouteflika was aware of the scope of France ’ s Machiavellian intent in the negotiations that Algeria was honestly conducting to make an upward adjustment of tax payments on oil output . He was the chief negotiator in front of the French negotiator , then Industry Minister
Francois Xavier Ortoli . At the time , the French were still acting as the life tenants of Algeria ’ s subsoil riches . Without the master stroke delivered by the Algerian secret services , who had managed to access early documents on negotiations that the French negotiator was preparing for his government , namely Jean Paul Brunet , director of ERAP4 , the former date would have had neither meaning nor scope nor meeting the best conditions to do this . The date of 22 February 1971 was also the deadline for reflection requested by France a month earlier during the visit of Algerian Foreign Minister Bouteflika to Paris . On 22 February 2016 , the situation of Algerian gas is at its lowest ebb . And it is not the 2,700 billion proven , potential , and probable reserves announced at the Council of Ministers of 6 October 2015 that can reassure about the sustainability of this blessing beyond the next fifteen years . 2030 looks hardly promising with regard to this resource . Article 19 of the new Algerian Constitution introduces a novelty : the State ’ s commitment to ensure rational utilization of natural resources and their preservation for future generations . By enshrining this new article in the fundamental law of the country , President Bouteflika cannot overrule himself historically on such critical issue as the
56 / OIL & GAS business / NUMÉRO 13 / mars 2016