Tunisian Gas Field Comes on Stream
Tunisia's prime minister Youssef Chahed announced the long-delayed launch of Nawara gas field on February 5.
In a message on social media, Chahed described Nawara’s completion as a “game changer,” saying it was a “historic day for Tunisia.”
The field in the southern Tataouine region is operated by Austria’s OMV and Tunisia’s national oil company Etap. The pair initially planned to start production in 2016, but low oil prices, land management issues and social unrest in Tunisia led to delays and cost overruns.
Daily production is 2.7mn m3 of gas, according to Chahed, raising the country’s national output by 50% and reducing its energy deficit by 20%. However, OMV told NGW in November that the field’s plateau output rate was only 2.4mn m3/day and would take six months to reach.
The field also produces 7,000 b/day of oil and 3,200 b/day of LPG, Chahed said.
Total investments at Nawara were estimated by OMV in November at €1bn ($1.1bn). The project includes a central processing facility at Nawara, which flows gas via a 370-km pipeline to a new gas treatment plant in Tunisia’s northern port city of Gabes. Tunisia relies on gas imports from Algeria to meet demand. Algerian supplies traverse the country on route to Europe.