Algeria announced its intention to move forward with exploration plans in the North of the country, also adding it plans to begin shale gas production by 2022. "We have a great hydrocarbon exploration potential in the country's North and we seek to encourage energy investment through partnership," Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi said on Sunday as reported by Algeria Press Service. Yousfi made clear that Algeri will try to promote a modernisation of the current infrastructures, trying to optimise the investments and avoiding wastes. Yousfi said 5 foreign companies will helpSonatrach in this difficult process. This rationalisation is expected to go hand in hand with a production growth. Algerian authorities also see a relevant hike in unconventional gas production. “By 2025, we could also achieve a production level of about 10 bcm of shale gas,” Sonatrach’s interim CEO Said Sahnoune commented