and distribution activities of Mobil and Esso, and Sonatrach signed an agreement with Getty Oil on October 19, 1968 receiving 51% of Getty Oil's interests. Sonatrach gained control over all Algerian petrochemical resources following President Houari Boumedienne's nationalisation of all French oil and gas holdings beginning on February 24, 1971. The old concession system was replaced by a seizure of a 51% share of French petroleum companies. Only TotalEnergies agreed to continue its activities; the other companies left Algeria. Beginning on December 10, 1979, a conference on the exploitation of petroleum recommended increasing participation in the research efforts by foreign companies and countries. By a decree published in the Journal Officiel on May 17, 1980, Sonatrach was divided into four enterprises. From 1986, it became possible for foreign hydrocarbon companies to do business in Algeria within a partnership with Sonatrach (this process was simplified in 1991). The Sonatrach-Gaz de France accord, signed on January 12, 1989, allowed the state to set a compromise price of about $2.30 per million BTUs. A total of 9.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas were delivered annually until 1990, and Sonatrach recovered 850 million francs in arrears, since the accord applied retroactively beginning on November 1, 1987. In March 2005, the Algerian parliament adopted the hydrocarbon reform bill, encouraging international oil company (IOC) investment in the hydrocarbon sector, which Sonatrach previously dominated. However, 2006 amendments to the hydrocarbon bill created a windfall tax on IOC profits when oil prices top $30 per barrel. This tax reached up to 50% on some contracts. In addition, the amendments gave Sonatrach rights to a 51% or higher participation option on each newly discovered project. In June 2018, Naturgy signed an agreement with Sonatrach covering 30% of Spain's natural gas imports by pipeline. Sonatrach holds a 4% stake in the shares for the Spanish natural gas distribution company. In 2019, the two companies took over joint control of the Medgaz pipeline between Algeria and Spain, with Sonatrach holding 51% stake and Naturgy the remaining 49%. In April 2019, media reports revealed that Lord Energy SA, a controversial Swiss energy trading company linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda, had been involved in a corruption scandal within Sonatrach. Sonatrach PDG Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour was let go a few days after Algerian Vice Minister of Defence Ahmed Gaïd Salah announced the launch of an investigation into the links between executives