Algeria, long presented as an oil powerhouse, imported more than one million tons of diesel in 2025 despite repeated presidential pledges of fuel self-sufficiency, according to Sonatrach’s latest annual report.
In April 2025, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared in Bechar that “next year, Algeria will not import a single drop of gasoil.”
Yet the company’s 2025 report shows it bought 1.078 million tons of diesel on international markets that year.
Overall petroleum product imports surged from 209,000 tons in 2024 to 1.404 million tons – a 572% jump – with diesel making up the bulk.
Earlier Sonatrach reports had presented the “complete halt of fuel imports” as an achieved success.
Officials stressed that gasoline imports had been banned since 2023 while remaining quiet on diesel.
On October 16, 2026, speaking to business leaders in Algiers, Tebboune softened the claim.
He acknowledged “a small shortfall” in diesel but promised full self-sufficiency once the long-delayed Hassi Messaoud refinery starts production in 2027.
Sonatrach described the unsubsidized purchases as a “considerable additional financial burden.”
At 2025 European prices of roughly $650–800 per ton, the bill is estimated at $700–850 million.
The diesel is then sold at the pump for just 31 dinars a liter (about 20 euro cents), forcing the state to cover the difference.
The episode echoes a Bloomberg assessment from earlier years that already questioned whether Algeria remained “an oil country” as energy exports declined and refining capacity lagged.
Domestic diesel demand runs at about 11 million tons a year while refining output has stagnated.
Even if Hassi Messaoud comes online in 2027, it would cover only around 40% of national needs. Sonatrach’s net profit fell 26% in 2025.
