“British Gas” has allocated this year more than 100 million dinars for research and exploration of natural gas in Tunisia,” Chris Finlaysor, CEO of BG said Friday in Tunis.
In a meeting with outgoing Prime Minister, Hamadi Jebali, the official said that the group will seek to identify new ways to expand its activities in the country and explore the possibility of creating a fund that will be responsible for investment in several sectors, including infrastructure.
The group will continue its investment in Tunisia through the identification, in consultation with the Tunisian authorities and the government, of new opportunities for natural gas and exploration supply.
Present at the meeting, Minister of Industry, Mohamed Lamine Chakhari said the British group is “very interested” in investing in Tunisia, recalling that the Group has reaffirmed its “commitment” to developing activities in the country in the long term.
This visit to Tunisia is among the first made abroad by Chris Finlayson, since his recent appointment as CEO of BG Group. It comes as the Group’s subsidiary, BG Tunisia is recovering from a series of sit-ins and other social movements that have affected its activities and operations in Sfax, but did not prevented it from ensuring the supply of local market in natural gas. For more than 16 years now, the group has met 60% of the country’s needs in gas with investment of more than $ 3.8 billion.
Moreover, the company seeks to remain the largest gas producer in Tunisia through its long-term strategy that reflects its confidence in Tunisia, a “partner of choice”.
It should be noted that BG Tunisia provides gas for the Tunisian market from its fields in the Gulf of Gabes, Miskar – owned exclusively by BG Tunisia – and Hasdrubal, a joint venture 50/50 with the Tunisian National Oil Company (ETAP).
