Economic Catastrophe in Algeria: Italian Company Edison Cancels Gas Contract with Algiers and Turns to U.S. Gas
Algeria’s propaganda house of cards is collapsing further. Italian energy company Edison, 98% owned by French giant EDF, has announced the outright cancellation of its gas contract with Algiers — an agreement covering 700,000 tons per year. To make matters worse for the Algerian regime, the deal was immediately replaced by a new partnership with Anglo-Dutch group Shell, which will now supply liquefied U.S. gas.
A major economic setback for Algiers
This decision marks a turning point: Italy, long one of Algeria’s main gas clients, is further reducing its dependence on Algerian supplies. The regime, which boasted of making Italy a cornerstone of its energy diplomacy, now finds itself humiliated on the international stage and deprived of hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.
For a country where more than 96% of exports rely on hydrocarbons, this loss is nothing short of hemorrhagic. The replacement of Algerian gas with American LNG highlights not only Algeria’s structural inability to secure its markets but also the growing disinterest of major partners in an economy crippled by military-backed stagnation.
Diplomatic and energy isolation
The blow is not only economic. It also underscores the progressive isolation of a regime that sought to portray itself as a “regional energy power.” While the world moves toward diversified energy sources and more reliable partnerships, Algiers finds itself increasingly marginalized, unable to inspire trust or guarantee long-term stability.
Algeria’s diplomacy, reduced to empty grandstanding and an obsessive anti-Moroccan stance, is being confronted with harsh reality: even its so-called strategic partners no longer hesitate to turn their backs on a supplier seen as unreliable and captive to its own internal dysfunctions.
A disaster for the Algerian people
For the Algerian population, this latest failure will translate into deeper hardship: fewer foreign currencies, fewer prospects for development, rising unemployment, and worsening poverty. As the military junta continues to squander the country’s resources on repression and political manipulation, ordinary Algerians are left to bear the brunt of their leaders’ incompetence.
The Edison (EDF) affair illustrates an undeniable truth: Algeria’s military regime has turned a nation rich in resources into a giant with feet of clay — unable to diversify its economy, modernize its industries, or even retain its traditional export markets.
Translated from Abderrazzak Boussaid’s French article – le7tv
