ALGIERS, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Dockworkers at Algeria’s busiest
port, operated by Dubai-based DP World (DPW.DI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), have staged an
unofficial strike in protest at a management drive to raise
productivity, industry sources told Reuters.

The operator said the container port was functioning as
normal and one of the sources said the union representing the
workers reached a deal last weekend to end the protest.

ALGIERS, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Algeria launched a licensing
round for 10 oil and gas contract areas on Thursday, setting the
stage for a new test of whether the OPEC member can revive
lacklustre foreign interest in its energy sector.

In the previous two bid rounds, many of the contract areas
on offer went unclaimed, with some international energy firms
saying the financial terms were too tough and the prospects were
not attractive enough.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Libya has put hundreds of millions of dollars into a London asset management firm to turn a profit while training up Libyans to plug the country’s shortage of financial experts, the firm’s chief executive said.

Oil exporter Libya has about $65 billion in its sovereign wealth funds but its investments to date have been modest partly because, after decades of international isolation, it does not have enough people who understand financial markets.

ALGIERS, July 1 (Reuters) – Algeria has put on hold a big
construction contract it had earmarked for Canada’s SNC-Lavalin
(SNC.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the firm said on Thursday, as part of a major
overhaul of the state energy firm’s dealings with contractors.

A review was launched into how state energy firm Sonatrach
awards billions of dollars of deals each year to contractors
and suppliers after a shake-up which saw Sonatrach’s chief
executive and the energy minister removed.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Al Qaeda insurgents killed 11 Algerian paramilitary police in a desert ambush Wednesday, a newspaper and a security source said, in the deadliest attack the group has mounted so deep in the Sahara.

The attack could be a sign that the militants are becoming a more potent force in the Sahara desert, a vast and thinly-policed region which security experts say al Qaeda wants to turn into a new battleground.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Europe will import its first solar-generated electricity from North Africa within the next five years, European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said in an interview on Sunday.

The European Union is backing projects to turn the plentiful sunlight in the Sahara desert into electricity for power-hungry Europe, a scheme it hopes will help meet its target of deriving 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources in 2020.

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) – At the marina under construction so yachts can moor off Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown, the floodlights are switched on even though the mid-morning sun is beating down.

Lights are often left on through the day at Libya’s airports, along roads and on construction sites, because this is a country with money to burn: it has about $150 billion in foreign reserves, or $24,000 for every citizen.

ALGIERS, May 6 (Reuters) – Algeria’s government is prepared
to buy 100 percent of Orascom Telecom’s <ORTE.CA> <ORTEq.L>
Algerian unit, the official news agency quoted Finance Minister
Karim Djoudi as saying on Thursday.

Asked in parliament about plans by Orascom Telecom to sell
the unit, “the minister recalled that the transaction must
conform to national laws, saying that Algeria is ready to buy
100 percent of the operator,” the APS news agency reported.

ALGIERS, May 3 (Reuters) – An industry veteran was named as
head of Algeria’s state energy firm on Monday, an appointment
aimed at restoring stability to the company, which supplies one
fifth of Europe’s gas, after a damaging corruption probe.

Nourredine Cherouati, who until now was head of an energy
sector regulator, takes over as chief executive of Sonatrach
four months after the previous holder of the post was removed
as part of a judicial investigation into corruption
allegations.

ALGIERS, May 3 (Reuters) – Industry veteran Nourredine
Cherouati has been named head of Algeria’s state energy firm,
sources close to the firm said on Monday, an appointment aimed
at bringing stability after a damaging corruption probe.

The energy firm, Sonatrach, which supplies about 20 percent
of Europe’s gas needs, has been run by a caretaker chief
executive since January when the previous chief was removed as
part of a corruption investigation.