ExxonMobil signed an agreement with regulator Agence Nationale pour la Valorisation des Ressources en Hydrocarbures (Alnaft) on 29 September to participate in a study assessing the hydrocarbon potential of basins in the Algerian Sahara. Exxon has been looking at opportunities in Algeria for some time, and had been in talks with Sonatrach to develop a field in the south-western Ahnet Basin, but talks stalled in March 2019 following protests against former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.