BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- The national fuel consumption amounted to nearly 17.7 million tonnes in 2022, an increase of 3% compared to 2021. This is what the President of the Hydrocarbons Regulation Authority (ARH), Rachid Nadil, said in an interview with the APS agency.
The president of the ARH explained this increase in fuel consumption by the economic recovery that the country is experiencing in several sectors, including services and industry.
Mr. Nadil foresees an increase in fuel consumption in Algeria in the coming years. According to its forecasts, it should reach 41 million tonnes in 2050, with an increase of 3 million tonnes per year. He believes that “national production capacities can meet this demand”.
Detailing fuel consumption, the president of the ARH specified that diesel consumption reached 10.1 million tonnes in 2022, an increase of 4% compared to 2021. According to him, the consumption of this fuel “ is set to grow in view of the economic development experienced by Algeria”.
Mr. Nadil said that the diesel production capacity is 9 million tons per year. Production will be increased to 12.5 million tonnes by 2030, with the entry into production of the fuel oil-to-diesel transformation project in Skikda in 2028, which, according to him, will make it possible to increase production by nearly 4 million tons.
Regarding the consumption of LPGc, the president of the ARH noted a 20% increase, with 1.5 million tonnes in 2022, against 1.2 million tonnes in 2021, thanks to the efforts made by various actors for several years to promote this eco-responsible product offered to the consumer at a very attractive price (9 AD/litre) compared to other types of fuel.
As for gasoline, he said that the consumption of this fuel fell by 2.26% to 3.3 million tonnes in 2022, against 3.4 million tonnes in 2021. It is explained by the increase in LPG-c consumption, which should reach 6.8 million tonnes by 2050, knowing that the production capacity of this fuel is currently estimated at 4 million tonnes per year.
With regard to the consumption of kerosene, it reached 468,000 tons in 2022 against 297,000 tons in 2021, an increase of 58%, according to the president of the ARH, who also specified that the consumption of marine fuel increased to 219,000 tons last year.
The same official noted a 2.26% drop in butane and propane consumption with 1.34 million tonnes in 2022. Bitumen consumption reached 619,000 tonnes in 2022, down 20%.
Mr. Nadil welcomed “the efforts made by the five current refineries which can increase their production to 300,000 tonnes per year, in addition to Sonatrach’s plan for 2025 aimed at increasing production to 500,000 tonnes”.
“It is incumbent on citizens to rationalize their consumption, with a view to saving and exporting this fuel to external markets to generate currencies that benefit the national economy and the citizen,” he said.
“The fall in the prices of these products encourages their consumption, hence the need to review their commercial margin, by applying the system of direct subsidies for the benefit of social categories and low- and middle-income households”, he observed.
In addition, Mr. Nadil indicated that the ARH will launch, in the coming days, a platform dedicated to investors wishing to obtain authorizations, with the aim of reducing the time required to study files and to establish direct contact between the Authority and the economic operator, in addition to the implementation of an internal organization plan to define the sites of the oil installations in order to help in the development of a national plan for oil investments.
