Algeria NEWS

Equinor has partnered with Algeria’s state-owned oil company Sonatrach to examine cooperation in global oil and gas exploration and production. Equinor, together with BP and Sonatrach, is involved in the development and production of two gas fields in the country, In Salah and In Amenas. The In Salah dry gas project, which delivered the first gas in August 2004, involves seven gas fields in the central Sahara area. Claimed to be the fourth-largest gas development project in Algeria, the In Amenas gas project was commissioned in 2006. It is located about 1,200km from the coast, towards the Libyan border.

Algeria’s energy exports are plunging, threatening financial suffering for OPEC member and potential repeat of mass demonstrations that toppled president 2years ago. The North African nation’s struggling to keep up shipments, lifeblood of economy as years of mismanagement and lack of investment take their toll. Decrease is so severe that Algeria might cease to be a crude exporter within decade.

Energy Minister of Algeria has informed that Algeria will block Total's acquisition of Anadarko's assets. He said, "Our ministry has contacted Anadarko to get explanations on this information, but so far we got no answer. It means there is no contract between Total and Anadarko." It was decided that if Occidental successfully takes over Anadarko, it will sell some of Anadarko's assets to Total for $8.8 billion.

EPC giant, KBR Inc has secured the Basic Engineering Design (BED) and Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the Rhoude el Krouf Field (RKF) redevelopment project in Algeria. Operated by a joint venture between Sonatrach and CEPSA, the redevelopment project will bring an additional oil and gas treatment train to the existing facilities. The Sonatrach-CEPSA JV is looking to support the rise of Algeria’s oil and gas capacity.

British energy services firm, Petrofac has secured a £750 million contract award for the Ain Tsila project in Algeria. Under the terms of the contract, Petrofac will provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the Groupement Isarene-operated project. The project will produce gas, LPG and condensate for the domestic market and for export. Groupement Isarene is a joint venture between Sonatrach, Petroceltic, and Enel.

Algerian state-owned, Sonatrach will utilise Honeywell’s technology suite at refinery in Arzew, Algeria to produce 200,000 metric tpy of MTBE. Technology giant, Honeywell will deliver technology licensing, design services, key equipment and state-of-the-art catalysts and adsorbents for the project. The technology suite also includes UOP’s Butamer™, UOP C4 Oleflex™, and UOP Ethermax™.

Oil majors Sonatrach, Total and Eni yesterday inked two agreements to pursue offshore exploration in Algeria. The agreements were signed at the Algeria Future Energy Summit in Algiers. Additionally, Eni and Total will look for obtaining exploration permits, which will enable rapid completion of the hydrocarbon potential assessment. Eni already has a presence in Algeria since 1981.

Total has announced that the company has signed an agreement with Algeria’s Sonatrach to develop the reserves of Erg Issouane gas field in Algeria. French energy giant has also informed that the development of Erg Issouane will require an investment of $400 million. The two companies are planning to form a JV called Sonatrach Total Entreprise Polymères for a petrochemical project in Arzew.

According to the source, Algeria has decided to enhance the output of Europe, for which it will invest $280 million to build a gas pipeline. The capacity of the pipeline will be 4.5 bcm per year and is expected to be online by 2020. The plan is to connect this 197 km pipeline with two others that will further link it to Spain.

Petrofac has agreed on joining hands with Algeria’s Sonatrach. The deal is of £543 million for the Tinhert project for field development in Algeria. The agreement is the EPC1 section of the project. The scope of the contract includes commissioning, performance testing and start-up of facilities. A 248-mile pipeline network to connect 36 wells is also part of the agreement. The project is scheduled for completion in 36 months.

Algerian state energy firm’s head informed that the country has signed an agreement with Spain and Italy’s Eni to provide gas. 9 bcm of gas per year will be supplied to Spain for a period of nine years and 3 bcm of gas per year will be supplied to Eni for an unspecified period of time. Talks between Sonatrach and Shell are in progress over the joint projects in Algeria.