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 Yousfi Yousfi told the state news agency new discoveries this year, including as recently as last week, are very promising and will result in an increase in estimated reserves.
His Monday announcement follows harsh criticism by the local press that Algeria, Europe's No. 3 gas supplier, will have trouble maintaining its exports in light of rising local demand.
Algeria has an estimated 4 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves and produces 50 billion cubic meters a year.
Local consumption is 31 billion cubic meters which has been increasing at a rate of 2 billion a year.
He said Algeria's first nuclear plant is still set to come online in 2025.
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