Algeria: Spain’s Villar Mir settles gas pricing dispute

Sonatrach and Spain’s Grupo Villar Mir have signed two agreements resolving longstanding disputes over the Fertial joint venture, which has operated plants at Annaba and Arzew producing about 1m t/yr of fertiliser since 2005. The first agreement introduces revisions to the joint venture which is 66% owned by Villar Mir and 33% by Sonatrach’s Asmidal subsidiary. The aim of the revisions – which are not specified – is to “rebalance the economic and operational interests of the two parties”. This appears to be the result of lengthy and sometimes fractious negotiations between the two companies, which mirror other difficult and long-winded discussions between Sonatrach and its other partners in petrochemicals developments over the past several years.