Algerian government to invest in six new gas plants

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The government of Algeria has announced its intention to invest, in the next three years, in six new gas plants fields to produce a capacity of 74million Cubic metres per day.

This pronouncement was made by energy state-owned Company Sonatrach last week, saying that the government expects production to grow immediately the gas flow starts from the Tinhert field. The field has a capacity of 14 million cubic metres output per day, but will increase to 24 million cubic metres in 2017.

Algeria is a leading Oil and gas exporter in the Northern Africa and a major supplier to European gas markets but has, in the recent past, been struggling to increase its energy output on which it relies heavily to finance development and social programmes.

Energy output in the country has been in a decline since 2010 after foreign companies raised concerns on Algeria’s Contract terms and security since a 2013 militant action on a gas plant owned by foreigners, and has since seen absolutely neither exploration activities nor investment by foreign companies .

Sonatrach and partner France’s GDF plan to start pumping from the Touat field in the next three years. The field has a capacity of 12 million cubic metres.

However, the government adds that the fields of Hassi Bahamou and Hassi Mena, with a capacity totaling 21 million cubic metres, will start production in 2017.

However, Reggane project, which is also expected to start production in 2017 and has the capacity of 12 million cubic metres per day, is to be developed with Spain’s Repsol, Germany’s RWE-DEA and Italy’s Edison.

Sonatrach is also developing the Timimoun project in partnership with French group Total, and production will start between now and 2018 on the 5 million cubic metres capacity field. The report said.