Algeria Won't Let Shale Gas Option Rest - Update
Update, with October 5 comments by Algerian PM on his website about 'agitators' and public health, at end
Shale gas is still being studied and will be handled in a "suitable" way as in other countries, said Algerian energy minister Mustapha Guitouni October 2.
Unconventional gas is an "option" that has and “shall and must be” considered for the sake of “future generations”, given the growth in Algeria's own gas consumption, the minister told state news agency APS.
During an October 1 visit to Arzew’s petrochemical complex, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia had also stressed the need to invest in shale gas in view of Algeria’s “enormous deposits.” However, even attempts to explore and appraise shale gas resources met with protests in 2015 by thousands of locals in remote parts of the Sahara, anxious about how much water vital for agriculture and life would be used in shale gas fracking. Such concerns forced the government to back down at that stage. Algeria’s prime minister at the time said there would be no shale gas produced this side of 2022.
The US Energy Information Administration estimated Algeria’s unproven technically recoverable wet shale gas reserves in 2013 at 706.9 trillion ft3 (20 trillion m3), ranking the country 3rd in the world behind only Argentina and China. Preliminary estimates tend to be significantly scaled down in places like South Africa once geologists examine the resource more closely. Algeria's shale gas potential is mainly in the Ahnet, Timimoun, Mouydir, Illizi and Berkine areas of the Sahara.
Guitouni also said October 2 that a revision of the law on hydrocarbons is under consideration, added Guitouni, telling APS that an overhaul was needed as Algeria's last four or five recent licensing rounds had failed to draw in investors. Prime Minister Ouyahia also said October 1 its review was required.
BP, Statoil Award Contract to KBR
US contractor KBR said October 2 it has been awarded a contract by JVGAS – a joint venture of Algerian state Sonatrach, Statoil and BP – to provide detail design engineering, procurement services plus construction management at the trio’s big conventional gas fields: In Salah Gas and In Amenas.
This work, which is expected to be performed over 48 months, will be a KBR collaboration with engineering and the procurement services being performed from the UK and Chennai offices in partnership with the local engineering office in Algeria. KBR did not disclose contract value.
The firm has worked in Algeria for more than 45 years.
Update as of October 6:
Algerian prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia has sought to isolate civil opponents of his government's plans to relaunch shale gas exploration.
Ouyahia posted on his website October 5: "The announced relaunch of plans to develop shale gas has awakened political agitators who are trying to manipulate the population, notably in the south of the country. It is therefore worth reminding everyone that the restarting of testing will be accompanied by explanations and dialogue with the population of the regions concerned. Nothing will be undertaken that endangers the health of Algerians. But nothing will prevent Algeria from developing its riches to the profit of Algerians."
He was also reported by state news agency APS October 5 saying, about plans to overhaul the country's hydrocarbons law, that there would be no revision to the question of sovereignty over oil and gas resources, including the 51%/49% rule about foreign partnerships, where the state retains 51%.
Mark Smedley