Japan's JGC Signs $213 Mln Algeria Gas Deal

Algerian state energy firm Sonatrach and partners BP and Statoil signed a $213 million contract with Japan's JGC to maintain production levels at Algeria's In Amenas gas fields.

The contract includes the construction of compression plants at In Amenas with the aim of keeping production at a level of 30 million cubic metres per day for the next 12 years, said senior Sonatrach official Kamel Chikhi.

Work on the project at In Amenas, one of Algeria's biggest gas fields, will start on Friday with completion expected by August 2013, he said.

Algeria is the world's fourth-largest exporter of natural gas and the eighth biggest exporter of crude. Sonatrach, BP, and Statoil jointly operate the In Amenas field.