Wedoany.com Report-Dec.30, Recently, Algeria announced a comprehensive petrochemical industry expansion plan with a total investment of $70 billion. The plan is set to officially commence in 2026, aiming to significantly enhance the country's refining and petrochemical production capacity. This move will position this non-traditional energy powerhouse as a new emerging force in the global petrochemical industry. The Algerian government has explicitly stated its intention to use this initiative to accelerate the transformation of its energy economy, shifting away from a development model overly reliant on oil and gas exports. The goal is to transform into a supplier of high-quality petrochemical products for both domestic and international markets.

In recent years, Algeria's economic transformation process has accelerated comprehensively. After years of sluggish development, the country is injecting new momentum into its economic revitalization by continuously improving its investment environment. This $70 billion petrochemical expansion plan represents a core component of its strategy to diversify its energy assets.

Algeria's Minister of Energy, Mohamed Arkab, recently provided detailed disclosures about the plan, including the commissioning timelines and capacity targets for a series of key projects. The new refinery in Hassi Messaoud, with a designed annual capacity of 5 million tons, is expected to commence operations in 2027. The naphtha cracking unit in Arzew, with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons, is also planned to be operational in 2027. In addition, the project list includes an alkylbenzene production plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons, supporting processing facilities capable of handling 1,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 300 tons of condensate per day, as well as a polypropylene plant with a total investment of approximately $1.5 billion and an annual capacity of 550,000 tons.

As a crucial part of the Algerian government's ten-year transformation plan, the ultimate goal of this initiative is to propel the country's leapfrog development from a petrochemical product importer to a major player in the industry. Notably, with the commissioning of large-scale African energy projects like Nigeria's Dangote Refinery, Africa is increasingly becoming a new focal point in the global energy market.