Algeria’s oil and gas giant Sonatrach has a new boss

Algeria’s interim President Abdelkader Bensalah has sacked Rachid Hachichi as the head of the giant state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach.

Kamel-Eddine Chikhi has been named as his replacement.

State spending relies on the success of the oil giant, which provides 60% of government revenue. Sonatrach also accounts for nearly all the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

The president’s office has not given a reason for Mr. Hachichi’s sacking but it came just days after a row blew up over the lower house of parliament’s adoption of a law aimed at attracting more foreign investment into the oil and gas industry.

Protesters gathered in front of parliament calling for the cancellation of the law, suggesting the current caretaker government had no right to take such strategic decisions.

But the government says the energy sector in Algeria needs to be reformed as the country is facing a decline in oil production.

Source: kmaupdates.com