As Senegal moves into full-scale oil and gas production, its national hydrocarbons institute has signed a training agreement with Algeria’s oil and gas training arm — tapping into six decades of hard-won technical expertise from the continent’s largest gas producer in a bid to build the local workforce needed to run its young industry.
The Institut national du petrole et du gaz du Senegal (INPG) formalized the partnership with the Institut algerien du petrole (IAP), a subsidiary of Algeria’s national oil company Sonatrach. The collaboration is designed to strengthen the technical and managerial capacity of Petrosen, Senegal’s state oil company, which has recently increased its stake in both Woodside’s Sangomar oil project and Kosmos Energy’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project from 10 per cent to 18 and 20 per cent, respectively.
Algeria’s credentials in this space are formidable. The country produces 100 billion cubic metres of gas annually — making it Africa’s largest gas producer — and Sonatrach employs more than 200,000 workers across its group and subsidiaries. The IAP, which was recognized with the OPEC Award for Best Energy Research Institute in July 2025, educates and upskills engineers, technicians, supervisors, and managers to global standards. Studies of Sonatrach’s pipeline operations show that IAP-led training programs have measurably reduced workplace accidents and improved safety performance.
For Senegal, the practical benefits are concrete. As Petrosen invests $100 million to take over onshore fields, IAP’s curriculum — rooted in Algeria’s 60 years of experience at fields like Hassi Messaoud — can help Senegal avoid costly early-stage operational mistakes. Knowledge transfer in petroleum databases, seismic interpretation, and reservoir modeling will also support more informed drilling decisions. Experts say similar cooperation could eventually extend into midstream and downstream projects, including Senegal’s pipeline network expansion and the modernization of the SAR refinery.
Source: energycapitalpower.com