On the morning of July 21, 2025, Algiers time, Li Shiguang, President of ZPEC Group, formally signed the natural gas exploration and production contract for the Zerafa II Block with Sonatrach (Société Nationale pour la Recherche, la Production, le Transport, la Transformation et la Commercialisation des Hydrocarbures). This marks the first time that a Chinese private enterprise has entered into the African natural gas exploration field, achieving a new leap in the company's global layout of oil and gas resources.

The contract adopts the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) model, with a project development cycle of 30 + 10 years. The development area covers 38,697 square kilometers, with 7 proven oil and gas traps. It is estimated that the geological reserves and resources of natural gas can reach 109.257 billion cubic meters.

Also signing the contracts were international oil companies such as the Zangas and Filada consortium, Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation, the ENI & PTTEP consortium, and the TotalEnergies & QatarEnergy consortium. Government representatives including Mr. Mohamed Arkab, Algerian Minister of State, Minister of Energy, Mines and Renewable Energy, attended the signing ceremony to witness the event. Sonatrach President Rachid Hachichi and ALNAFT Committee Chairman Bekhti delivered enthusiastic speeches, extending sincere congratulations to all of the winning bidders and expressing expectations for international partners to create brilliance together in Algeria's energy sector.

During his meeting with Sonatrach's senior management, Li Shiguang stated, "We will give full play to the synergistic advantages of the entire industrial chain, plan to introduce the company's independently developed new-generation intelligent offline drilling rigs into the Algerian market, focus on promoting the application of intelligent drilling technology and the construction of digital oilfields, and provide innovative solutions for the development of Algeria's oil and gas industry."

As an important member of OPEC, Algeria ranks among the top 10 in the world in terms of natural gas reserves and is rich in oil and gas resources. In 2024, the country launched a five-year oil and gas investment plan aiming to attract international capital for joint development. ZPEC accurately seized the opportunity, stood out among many international competitors by virtue of its entire industrial chain advantages, mature exploration technologies, and rich experience in operating international block projects. It obtained the qualification for upstream project bidding in March 2025 and successfully won the bid for the Zerafa II block project on June 17th. With the implementation of the project, ZPEC is expected to play a more important role in the international energy arena. (Text/Photos by Sun Qi)