Group SONATRACH plans to invest US$42 billion in the upstream oil and gas sector to increase production to 225 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) in 2018, a source of the oil national group told APS Saturday.
The Group will mobilize more than $100 billion for its medium-term development plan 2014-2018, including $42 billion to be allocated to the development of several oil and gas deposits, the source said.
Natural gas will be allocated more than 22 billion over the period 2014-2018.
SONATRACH medium-term investment programme aims at enlarging the reserves and raising the Group’s production capacity, the same source explained.
The oil group is expecting a recovery in its hydrocarbon primary production in 2018, after a decline started in 2010, according to the recently issued figured forecasts of the group.
With the commissioning of several oil and gas projects, the group will be able to return to its production levels reached before 2010.
In 2008, its hydrocarbon production had reached 232 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) before falling to 214 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) in 2010 and to 205.8 Mtoe in 2011 then to 194.5 Mtoe in 2012.
As part of this plan, the production of Hassi Messaoud, the country’s largest oil field will be maintained at 400,000 barrels per day thanks to tertiary recovery and production boosting projects planned for that sake.
Concerning gas production, the group banks on additional recovery of 400 billion cubic meters of natural gas of Hassi R'mel field, a huge deposit operated since 1956.
For the coming five years, SONATRACH eyes the coming into production of the fields Tinhert in Illizi (24 million m3/d), Hassi Bahamou and Hassi Mena (21 million m3/d), Touat in Adrar (12 million m3/d), Reggane (12 million m3/d) and the project Timimoun (5 million m3/d).