Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach oil and gas company has successfully completed the construction of the GR7 gas pipeline project. This pipeline, an extension of the GR5 pipeline, connects Hassi Mouina Sud & Nord and Hassi Ba Hamou, the country’s new southwest oil fields to Hassi R’Mel, the National Gas Dispatching Center at a length of approximately 344 km.
With a capacity of 4 billion cm3/year, this gas pipeline is expected to raise the natural gas capacity of Sonatrach’s system Reggane-Hassi R’Mel (GR5 Pipeline) from 9 billion cm3/year to about 13 billion cm3/year.
Sonatrach stated that the realization of the GR7 gas pipeline project was as a result of a 100% Algerian consortium. Consider Canalisations and Entreprise Nationale de Canalisations (ENAC) were entrusted with the construction of the structure using tubes manufactured by EPE ALFAPIPE Spa. The control and monitoring of the manufacturing process of the tubes were carried out by GTP.
Priority to develop gas projects in Algeria’s southwest
Developing new fields in the southwest of the North African country and linking them to the rest of the nation’s gas network has been a deliberate priority for the company over the past few years.
Sonatrach has developed about six gas fields in the country, the most recent one being Hassi Mouina Sud & Nord and Hassi Ba Hamou. The latter consists of three new gas treatment and compression installations and is expected to produce about 4 billion cm3 of oil per year.
In September last year, the company in partnership with Neptune Energy connected gas from the 4.7 Bcm/year Touat field into the Algerian gas network. Before that, together with Total and Cepsa, Sonatrach began producing oil from the 1.8 Bcm/year Timimoun field in February 2018. The previous year, December 2017 to be precise, the company started operating the 2.8 Bcm/year Reggane Nord field.
Founded in 1963, today Sonatrach, often referred to as the first African oil “major” for being the continent’s largest oil company, is the 12th largest oil consortium in the world, with 154 subsidiaries operating over the entire oil value-chain from upstream, to midstream, and downstream activities.
