Key Implications Of Algeria's Energy U-turn

The Algerian national assembly has finally approved government plans to roll back last year's liberalisation of the energy sector, in a move sure to boost President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid to extend his reign. With energy prices having seen historic highs this year, and similar moves elsewhere in the world, Algeria's tendency towards resource nationalism is not entirely surprising. Indeed, as the former vice president of state-owned energy company Sonatrach, Hocine Mali, has declared, 'one should not hesitate, however, to proclaim high and loud, just like the Venezuelans and the Bolivians, that hydrocarbons are the property of the people'. In neighbouring

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