Algeria signed an agreement with US energy giant Chevron on Wednesday aimed at assessing potential offshore oil resources in the Mediterranean, according to the country’s energy ministry.

The partnership was struck between the national hydrocarbon agency Alnaft and Chevron North Africa, the ministry said in a statement.

The agreement, which will last two years, envisions an “in-depth study to evaluate Algerian offshore oil resources”, the statement said.

The deal could “open the way for exploration and development projects aimed at developing national hydrocarbon resources”.

It is part of Alnaft’s “efforts to attract quality investments and step up technical capacity in the field of offshore exploration”, the agency’s president, Mourad Beldjehem, was quoted as saying by Algeria’s official APS news agency.

In 2018, the country’s state-run hydrocarbon company Sonatrach signed two agreements with France’s Total and Italy’s ENI to assess potential offshore oil reserves.

The largest country in Africa, Algeria derives more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange receipts from hydrocarbons.