Algeria Bid Round 2026 — ALNAFT Seven-Block Hydrocarbons Licensing Round

Mechanism

The Algeria Bid Round 2026 is the first structured multi-block competitive licensing round under the Loi n° 19-13 framework, which in 2019 overhauled Algeria's upstream hydrocarbons contractual architecture. ALNAFT (the national licensing authority created by Loi 19-13 to sit between the Ministry of Hydrocarbons/Mines and Sonatrach) prepared the round through a structured Nomination Process open to international companies until 31 January 2026, during which 13 development and 11 exploration projects were evaluated to calibrate asset packaging and fiscal design.

Seven offered perimeters span Algeria's core productive basins:

Contractual structure: Awards under Loi 19-13 may be structured as Production Sharing Contracts (PSC), Risk Service Contracts (RSC), or legacy royalty-and-tax Participation Contracts. Sonatrach retains a statutory minimum-participation right and pre-emption privilege across all upstream contracts.

Evaluation criteria: Technical bids cover exploration, development, and production-optimisation plans. For all perimeters except Est Bordj Omar Driss I, bids are also evaluated on financial criteria including the bidder's participation rate in financing upstream operations. VDR access requires registration through the Bid Round Connect platform and payment of USD 30,000 (excl. taxes) per perimeter.

Timeline:

• 1 June 2026: VDR opens
• 26 November 2026 (08:00–10:30 Algeria time): Bid submission deadline; contract awards announced

same day at 11:00 Algeria time

• 31 January 2027 (latest): Contract signing

Institutional context: The launch ceremony was presided over by ALNAFT President Samir Bekhti in the presence of Minister of State for Hydrocarbons Mohamed Arkab. The pre-round Nomination Process was officially kicked off by ALNAFT at the North Africa Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (NAPEC) 2025, signalling renewed upstream FDI outreach after years of limited international interest following the 2014 oil-price collapse and COVID-era investment freezes.

Strategic significance

Algeria is Africa's third-largest natural gas producer and supplies approximately 12% of EU gas demand via the Medgaz pipeline (Algeria → Spain) and the Transmed/ENI pipeline (Algeria → Italy), plus incremental LNG exports. Post-2022 Russian-supply rotation created structural demand for North African gas diversification, with Italy's Mattei Plan and Spain's MIDCAT corridor debate both anchoring EU diversification calculus in Algerian supply expansion.

The seven offered perimeters are located in the Illizi and Ouargla–Touggourt basin systems, which host Algeria's most productive existing fields (Hassi R'Mel gas, Hassi Messaoud oil). New upstream contracts in these basins have the potential to extend plateau production timelines for EU export capacity.

The round also responds structurally to Algeria's long-term fiscal dependency on hydrocarbons revenue (~90% of export earnings, ~60% of budget receipts): without upstream investment to offset natural field decline, Algeria faces a structural export-revenue deterioration over the 2030s. Attracting international capital under revised fiscal terms (PSC/RSC structures more competitive than the pre-2019 royalty-only regime) is the Ministry of Hydrocarbons' primary investment strategy.

Downstream implications

• EU gas security: Incremental Algerian upstream investment, if converted to contractual

commitments by Q1 2027, could add supply to the Medgaz and Transmed systems by the early-to-mid 2030s — relevant to post-2027 EU gas import planning.

• Sonatrach JV pipeline: International majors (TotalEnergies, ENI, Repsol, Equinor all have

existing Algeria upstream presence) are the most likely bidders; award announcements on 26 November 2026 will indicate whether ALNAFT's revised fiscal architecture succeeded in attracting new entrants or only renewed incumbent positions.

• Peer rounds: The Algeria Bid Round 2026 is structurally comparable to the filed 2026-01-02

Saudi Arabia 9th Mining Exploration Licensing Round and the 2024-02-03 Guinea Simandou JV conventions as EM resource-state competitive-licensing instruments targeting upstream FDI.

Open questions

• Will the revised PSC/RSC fiscal terms attract new entrants (beyond incumbent majors TotalEnergies/

ENI/Repsol), or will poor terms relative to West Africa / Middle East competing rounds limit uptake?

• Will Algeria's structural FX / repatriation constraints (historically a friction for upstream IOCs)

be addressed in the contract templates?

• What is the practical outcome of the Nomination Process: were all 7 perimeters drawn from

the 24-project longlist, and what selection criteria were applied?