Exxon Mobil and Algerian state energy group Sonatrach are in talks with Niger for rights to an exploration block in the West African country, a senior Sonatrach senior official said on Sunday.
A deal with the Niamey government would allow the two companies to carry out joint exploration works at a Djado No. 2 block, Belkacem Boumedienne, Sonatrach's upstream director, told reporters.
Through its subsidiary Sonatrach International Exploration and Development Corporation (Sipex), Sonatrach and Niger have recently signed an agreement covering prospecting and research at Djado and Kafra blocks, Boumedienne added.
Algeria said last year that Sonatrach was looking to expand oil and gas production outside its borders, possibly into neighbouring Niger, Mauritania and further afield in Nigeria.
Nigeria and Algeria are also looking to build a gas pipeline, which will join their two countries, straddling the Sahara Desert and passing straight through Niger.
The 4 000 kilometre Trans-Saharan Pipeline is being planned as a joint venture between Sonatrach and Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to allow Nigeria to export its huge natural gas reserves more efficiently to European markets.
Algeria and Nigeria are the world's second- and seventh- biggest producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) respectively producing 21-million and 8,7-million tons of LNG per year.
Boumedienne said Sonatrach was also seeking deals to look for oil in Yemen, Egypt and neighbouring Mali.
Exxon Mobil has been present in Niger for two years when it started exploring the Agadem concession near the border with Chad as part of a joint venture with Malaysia's Petronas.
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