Sonatrach to Invest $2 billion in Algeria’s Largest Gas Field

Algeria’s state-run energy producer, Sonatrach, will inject about $2 billion to maintain production on the country’s largest gas field, local media reported.

This field produces between 190 and 210 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, about 60% of the North African nation’s total gas production.

Sonatrach’s CEO, Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, said the goal of the investment is to keep production around 190 million cubic meters over the next 10 years, with foreign companies increasing their yearly output by 10 million tons of oil equivalent.
Earlier this year, Sonatrach announced plans to invest $9 billion from 2017 to 2021 in its search for new deposits of oil and natural gas.

Algeria, which is an OPEC member and a major supplier to European markets, relies heavily on oil and gas, which account for 60 percent of the budget and 95 percent of total export revenue.

Algeria aims for a 6.5 percent growth in the energy sector in 2018, after a 2.7 percent fall projected for this year. Gross domestic product in the non-hydrocarbon sector is expected to grow by 3.4 percent next year