Moeve Sells Last Algerian Assets, Exits Upstream for Good

Moeve, the Spanish energy company formerly known as Cepsa, has agreed to sell its remaining upstream oil and gas assets in Algeria to units of Indonesia’s state-owned Pertamina, a deal that completes the company’s exit from exploration and production altogether. The assets being sold are non-operated onshore stakes in three Berkine Basin fields — Rhourde el Khrouf, Bir el Msana and Ourhoud — held through Moeve’s subsidiaries Cepsa Algérie and Cepsa (Rhourde El Rouni).

The first European major to fully quit upstream

The buyer is PT Pertamina Algeria Eksplorasi Produksi (PAEP), a unit of Pertamina Internasional EP that has run Pertamina’s Algerian exploration and production business since 2014. Neither company disclosed a price, and the deal still needs approval from Algerian authorities before it closes. According to Moeve, the sale makes it the first European oil and gas company to fully divest its upstream portfolio — a process it began in 2023 with the sale of its Abu Dhabi assets, followed by exits from Colombia and Peru in 2024 and from exploration assets in Suriname in 2025. The Algeria sale closes out that multi-year retreat from production and exploration entirely.

Betting on green molecules instead

Moeve, which is backed by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala and US private equity firm Carlyle, says it will keep looking for opportunities in Algeria outside of upstream production — in renewables, green hydrogen and related derivatives, as well as industrial and petrochemical cooperation, building on its long-standing partnership with Algerian state energy company Sonatrach. The move fits Moeve’s broader “Positive Motion” strategy, under which it has committed €2.4 billion cumulatively to green hydrogen and second-generation biofuel projects and aims for green molecules to make up a third of its energy mix by 2050, with Palos de la Frontera in Spain positioned as what the company calls Europe’s largest green-molecules hub. The announcement comes just over a week after merger talks between Moeve and Portugal’s Galp collapsed, leaving the upstream sale as Moeve’s most concrete strategic move of the past month.

Algeria remains a significant gas supplier to Europe, including to Spain, and continues to draw renewable investment of its own — the country switched on its largest solar plant yet, a 300 MW project at El Oued, in late October. Moeve’s upstream exit does not affect Algeria’s broader role in Spain’s LNG and pipeline gas supply, which flows through Sonatrach rather than through the non-operated minority stakes Moeve is selling.

Sources

• Moeve corporate statement, November 4, 2026, as reported by El Español and Infobae — asset names, buyer details, deal conditions and divestment history.
• El Periódico de la Energía, “Moeve abandona su negocio de upstream tras la venta de sus últimos activos en Argelia,” November 4, 2026 — independent confirmation of the full upstream exit.
• Democrata.es, “Moeve drives its green turnaround by selling 100% of its upstream assets to Pertamina,” November 4, 2026 — context on Moeve’s green-transition strategy.

Illustrative image. Photo: Magharebia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source