Algeria Boosts Alrar Gas Output
UK contractor Petrofac together with its joint venture partner Italy’s Bonatti have boosted gas production in the Alrar gas field project onshore Algeria, Petrofac said July 3.
Algerian state producer Sonatrach awarded Petrofac and Bonatti a $650mn engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract in 2013 to extend the life of the field, close to Algeria’s border with Libya. The scope of work included the EPC and commissioning services for the development of new separation and booster compression facilities.
Output at the field, which has produced since 1987, has now risen by 54% to 24.7mn m3/d (9bn m3/yr) as a result, Petrofac said.
Sonatrach CEO Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, Petrofac CEO Ayman Asfari, energy minister Mustapha Guitouni and various other Algerian officials attended an inauguration ceremony to mark the upgrade. Petrofac senior vice president for North Africa said Graham Mac Millan remarked: "I am delighted that the project has successfully moved into the start-up phase and that Sonatrach are now able to boost their production from this enormous field." The company said it faced a number of logistical challenges, particularly as Alrar is in a remote region of the Sahara desert.
Algeria's sales gas gas production in 2017 was 91.2bn m3, according to the latest BP Statistical Review of World Energy published last month. Of that, 38.9bn m3 consumed in Algeria, 36.4bn m3 exported by pipeline (chiefly to Spain and Italy) and 16.6bn m3 exported in the form of LNG (subtotals do not quite add up, due to rounding).