The energy trade balance deficit went down by 30% at the end of August 2020 to 3,397 million dinars (taking into account the royalty on Algerian gas exports), against 4,883 million dinars during the same period of 2019.
This is what emerges from the report on the energy situation for the month of August 2020, published by the National Observatory of Energy and Mining Thursday.
Exports of energy products saw a decline in value by 47%, coupled with a decline in imports in value of 35%, the observatory said.
The report noted an improvement in the rate of energy independence (which represents the ratio of primary energy by primary consumption), at 44% at the end of August 2020, against 41% at the end of August 2019.
Trade in the energy sector remains sensitive to three factors: the $ / TD exchange rate which improved by 4% (during the period August 2019-August 2020), the price of Brent, which saw a decrease of 37% (64.9 dollars / barrel against 40.8 dollars / barrel) and the quantities traded, which deteriorated by 28% during the month of April 2020.
Regarding the demand for primary energy, it fell by 9% between the end of August 2019 and the end of August 2020, from 6.5 Mtoe to 5.9 Mtoe: the demand for natural gas went down 6% and that of petroleum products by 13%.
