Almost ready: Sonatrach boss Mohamed Meziane
Sonatrach primes Medgaz taps
The Medgaz pipeline linking Algeria to Spain will deliver its first gas in the fourth quarter this year, the chief executive of Algeria's Sonatrach said, adding that the state-run player aims to export 85 billion cubic metres of gas by 2012.
Mohamed Meziane was speaking to Reuters at an industry conference in Abu Dhabi.
Meziane said state-run Sonatrach is currently exporting 60 Bcm of gas per year and is targeting exports of 85 Bcm by 2012. He added Sonatrach is currently producing 150 Bcm of gas per year.
The company also plans to spend $63 billion on oil and gas developments between now and 2013, he said.
Meziane said the investment would come from company cash reserves and an Algerian bank. He did not specify which bank Sonatrach aimed to tap for funds.
The €900 million ($1.2 billion) Medgaz project, a joint venture between Sonatrach and Spanish and French energy companies, won the final go-ahead in December last year.
The 210-kilometre pipeline, which in parts will run at water depths of 2160 metres, will be one of the deepest in the world, alongside Bluestream, which runs from Russia to Turkey under the Black Sea, or BP's Mardi Gras system in the Gulf of Mexico.
Medgaz will deliver 8 Bcm per year initially and its shareholders have split that capacity in proportion with their stakes in the project.
Feedstock for the line will come from the Beni Saf field in Algeria.
Sonatrach has a 36% stake in Medgaz, while Spanish player Cepsa holds 20%. The other partners are Spanish utilities Iberdrola (20%) and Endesa (12%), with French utility GDF Suez (12%).