Tunis: The national crude oil production stood at 576 kilotons (kt), at the end of May 2024, a drop of 12% compared to the end of May 2023, according to the National Crude Oil Observatory of Energy and Mines.
The daily average of oil production increased from 33.8 thousand barrels/d at the end of May 2023, to 29.8 thousand barrels/d at the end of May 2024, the Observatory said in its monthly report on the energy situation of May 2024, published Tuesday.
This decline affected several fields, namely Gherib (-34%), Ashtart (-16%), Baraka (-51%), El Hajeb/Guebiba (-13%), M.L.D (-21%), El borma (- 7%), Halk el Manzel (-17%) and Nawara (-12%).
Conversely, other fields recorded an increase in production, namely Sidi Marzoug (+11%), Bir Ben Tartar (+79%), Sidi Litayem (+28%) and Ch.Essaida (+25%).
// 20% drop in natural gas resources//
Natural gas resources (national production + tax package) reached 907 ktoe at the end of May 2024, recording a drop of 20% compared to the same period of 2023.
The production of
dry commercial gas decreased by 30%, the royalty on the passage of Algerian gas recorded a drop of 2% at the end of May 2024 compared to the end of May 2023, standing at 408 ktoe.
The distribution of the total royalty between the royalty transferred to STEG and the exported royalty shows that the largest part is transferred to STEG (85%).
The tax package on the passage of Algerian gas fell significantly during the first half of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic, which affected Europe, particularly Italy, had a strong impact on the demand for energy. As a result, this affected the gas quantity which transits from Algeria to Italy through Tunisia.
Yet, an improvement was observed from July 2020 and which continued over the following years.
Algerian gas purchases recorded virtual stability between the end of May 2023 and the end of May 2024, standing at 853 ktoe.
The national natural gas supply recorded a drop of 5% between the end of May 2023 and the end of May 2024 to stand at 1697 ktoe.
Source: Agence Tunis
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