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Friday, 21 November, 2008, 21:40 GMT | more >>

Algeria 'to triple' LNG flows to US



By Upstream staff 

Algerian state-owned energy group Sonatrach, a leading gas supplier to Europe, will triple liquefied natural gas exports to the US to 12 billion cubic metres by 2010, the company's chief executive said yesterday.

Mohamed Meziane told state radio the target would be reached after the completion of two big projects, which are intended to help boost national gas output capacity by 12 billion cubic metres. The country exports both natural gas and LNG.

"We are present on the American market with about four billion cubic metres. The volume will reach between 10 billion and 12 billion cubic metres of natural gas, in the form of LNG," Reuters reported he told the radio service in an interview.

Algeria still hopes to complete its Gassi Touil project, being developed by Spain's Repsol YPF and Gas Natural, on time.

Repsol and Gas Natural have reported technical difficulties in developing the $3 billion project in Algeria's southern desert, which involves both exploration and extraction, plus building a liquefaction terminal to process the gas for export.

The country is also rebuilding two gas liquefaction trains at the port city of Skikda which were destroyed by a fire in 2004.

"We have two projects: Skikda and Gassi Touil, which will increase our capacity by about twelve billion cubic metres. They will also help us increase exports to the US," Meziane said.

Sonatrach produces a total of about 62 billion cubic metres of gas per year, in the form of both LNG and natural gas, and is expected to reach a total of about 85 billion cubic metres of gas by 2010.

The company saw earnings reach $17 billion in the first four months of 2007, roughly the same as in the same period last year, Meziane said.

"We have about $17 billion. It is almost the same thing as last year," Mohamed Meziane told state radio in an interview.

He did not say whether the figure included the revenue of the companies' foreign partners.

Sonatrach's revenue jumped to $58 billion in 2006, including $4.5 billion earned by foreign companies working on Sonatrach contracts in the OPEC-member country.

It earned $45.6 billion in 2005, with $4.4 billion of that amount attributable to foreign partners.

UK supermajor BP, French giant Total, Norway's Statoil, Spain's Repsol YPF and US independents Amerada Hess and Anadarko Petroleum are the main foreign companies involved in oil and gas exploration in Algeria.

Sunday, 13 May, 2007, 22:54 GMT  | last updated: Monday, 14 May, 2007, 00:43 GMT

Desert source: Algeria hopes to export natural gas from its southern Gassi Touil project
 

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