Attack on In Amenas Gas Facility - Special Report

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A group of armed terrorists attacked the In Amenas gas facility site on Wednesday morning the 16th of January 2013. Nearly 700 Algerians and 100 foreigners survived while more than 60 people died including 38 foreign workers. Algeria's parliament acted quickly to endorse an oil and gas law, canceling a windfall tax on foreign firms, in a move seen as a bid to reassure foreign investors and reverse declining interest in the OPEC member.

In Amenas Gas Development Project

Location The Illizi basin in south-eastern of Algeria - DZ
Investment 1,800,000,000 USD
Scope In-Amenas is Algeria's largest wet gas joint development project, located approximately 850 kilometers south of Hassi Messaoud, in the south-east of the country.

The project included the development of four gas fields (Tiguentourine, Hassi Farida, Ouan Taredert and Hassi Ouan Abecheu) covering an area of more than 2,750 square kilometers plus gas gathering and processing facilities.

The $1.1 billion first phase included the development of the Tiguentourine gas field, which lies some 40 kilometers southwest of In Amenas,1,600 km (995 miles) south east of the capital Algiers. A gas treatment plant was constructed with a capacity of 30 million cubic meters of gas per day. The plant consisted of three parallel trains of gas processing and condensate stabilization, including CO2 removal, mercury removal, molecular sieve dehydration, LPG recovery, residue gas re-compression (including waste heat recovery), and power generation. Current production is estimated at 16 million cubic metres per day, and should reach 24 million to 25 million cubic metres when the third and final section of the plant comes online.

The project also included the construction of three 110 kilometers pipelines to carry the hydrocarbons to the Sonatrach distribution system at Ohanet. The diameters of the three evacuation pipelines are a 36in pipe for dry gas, and 12in pipes for the condensate and LPG.

The In Amenas project also constructed a gathering system comprising 10in flow lines connecting to manifold station, having 4-6 wells per manifold.

In-Amenas produces 9 billion cubic meters annually of wet gas (associated with oil) and 50,000 barrels per day of condensate and LPG. The dry gas goes to Sonatrach, and condensate share between Sonatrach and BP and lifted at Algerian ports.

Development Milestones

10/30/2002 JGC Corporation of Japan formed a 50/50 joint venture with KBR (Kellogg Brown & Root) to carry out the engineering, procurement and construction works of the In Amenas Project, including gas processing facilities, infrastructure and export pipeline systems.
6/23/2006 The In Amenas gas development project commenced gas production.
1/16/2013 Terrorists attacked the Amenas gas field but army surrounds compound after 20 foreign workers taken hostage.
2/24/2013 Tiguentourine gas plant resumed some production.
5/30/2013 Statoil, BP and Sonatrach announced that production at the second of the three processing trains had resumed.
10/30/2013 Expansion at In Amenas producing site will not get going next year as planned. Two out of three gas trains are back up and running now at In Amenas, producer of 11.5 percent of Algeria's gas prior to the attack.
1/13/2014 Statoil is returning to Algeria after January 2013’s hostage crisis having ended up with killing of 39 people.
1/22/2014 The In Amenas gas plant will reach full capacity in weeks. The repair work to bring the plant back to full production, of around 9 billion cubic meters per year, was done where one of the three trains was badly damaged during the assailant’s detonated explosives.
1/28/2014 The capacity of the In Amenas gas site was currently producing around 20 million cubic metres from the total capacity of 30 million cubic metres per day.
1/28/2014 The In Amenas gas plant will be operating at full capacity within weeks as work on the last of its three processing units is nearing completion. Two thirds of capacity is already on stream and the last unit will start in a few weeks so In Amenas will be back at full capacity in a few weeks.
2/11/2014 BP had returned some staff to Algeria but more security arrangements would need to be completed before it sends expatriates back to In Amenas.
2/24/2014 Algeria's In Amenas gas plant will be producing at full capacity in months pushing back the expected schedule for a comeback from a violent assault early 2013. In Amenas had produced 11.5% of Algeria's natural gas before the Islamist militant attack. It is expected that the third train will be onstream in a few months.
3/8/2014 International insurers sent their experts to the Tiguentourine gas site to assess the loss suffered by Sonatrach and BP and Statoil, due to the terrorist attack in January 2013. The Experts designated by international insurance groups came in Algeria. The group of experts prepared its findings in the field to develop an assessment report on losses. So far, the complex, which stopped for several months, does not produce at full capacity. One of the three trains is still under repair.
4/15/2014 Statoil, BP and Sonatrach agreed on the extra safety needed for the return of foreign staff for In Amenas gas plant.
9/9/2014 Statoil has started operations at In Amenas gas production facility.
12/31/2014 The Council of Ministers examined and adopted draft presidential decree on hydrocarbon between ALNAFT, SONATRACH, and foreign companies in addition to an amendment to a production-sharing agreement on the development and the exploitation of the natural gas field of the region of In Amenas.
10/7/2015 The third processing train is still offline, but increasing production would be free more gas for Algerian exports. Current Amenas production is at 17 million cubic meters per day.
3/20/2016 The restart of that train would still happen in the coming months.
3/21/2016 BP has decided to undertake a phased temporary relocation of all its staff from the In Salah Gas and In Amenas JVs in Algeria over the next two weeks. This decision has been taken as a precautionary measure. Statoil would also withdraw staff from the In Salah and In Amenas plants, together with staff from its operations centre at Hassi Messaoud.
5/25/2016 In Amenas gas processing plant started test production at its third train and will soon be back running at full capacity. The plant's second train is in scheduled maintenance.
7/23/2016 Tiguentourine gas plant is ready to come fully back online for the first time since a deadly militant attack in 2013.
7/27/2016 Tiguentourine's third train came back online.
8/4/2016 Tiguentourine gas plant has resumed full production for the first time since a militant attack in 2013.
11/15/2016 In Amenas gas plant will resume full production with the start of its third train before the end of the year. The plant was the site of a deadly militant attack in early-2013. The third train is expected online either by the end of November or December.
10/2/2017 KBR, Inc. has been awarded an engineering and project management services contract by JVGAS – a joint venture of Sonatrach, Statoil and BP – for the provision of engineering, procurement and construction management services in Amenas Gas.
12/20/2017 Sonatrach has signed an agreement with BP and Statoil to invest $500M to produce an additional 11 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas from its Tiguentourine. The field produces 9 bcm per year, but more investment is needed to maintain that output beyond 2035.

bp to Sell Its Business in Algeria to Eni

bp announced that it has agreed to sell its upstream business in Algeria to Eni, including its interests in the gas-producing In Amenas and In Salah concessions. bp holds working interests of 33.15% a...


Sonatrach
Partners and shareholders
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BP Plc 25 %
Equinor (previously known as Statoil) 25 %
Sonatrach 50 %

Suppliers, Contractors & Service providers
$Value Profile News
Altra Energy   Products catalog
On 7 October 2010, Altra Energy has won an open tender for a capacity trial of the In Amenas Gas plant in Algeria. The contract worth around £500,00. Altra will provide process and mechanical support for the preparation, execution and reporting of the live capacity trial to allow an increase in processing capacity above the design capacity. The In Amenas LPG wet gas processing facility is located in southern eastern Algeria and currently produces an annual rate of 28.2MMSm³ of wet gas. An internal study by BP revealed the facility has the potential of increasing the gas throughput by over 10%. The project will involve Altra carrying out a variety of work including process simulation, flare and relief valve studies, vibration checks of thermowells, heat exchanger tube bundles and small bore pipework, mechanical and fixed bed integrity study, a turbo expander performance study and also a trip and alarm set point review. The team will develop the procedures for conducting the capacity trial and perform in conjunction with the JV Gas technical team, a HAZOP and Risk Assessment of the capacity trial procedures prior to carrying out the on-site trial.
Douglas Chero SPA   Products catalog
In 2003, Douglas Chero had awarded a contract from M.W.KELLOGG JGC-KBR VENTURE t o provide valves with size ranges: 1/2" TO 1.1/2" and rating ANSI/API: 150 TO 1500 at (In Amenas gas project).
GE Oil & Gas 70 M Products catalog
GE Oil & Gas won a contract to supply three gas turbines with process gas compressor, three turbo generator and expander trains for In-Amenas gas processing facilities.
JGC Corporation 370 M Products catalog
JGC Corporation of Japan formed a 50/50 joint venture with KBR (Kellogg Brown & Root) to carry out the engineering, procurement and construction works of the In Amenas Project, including gas processing facilities, infrastructure and export pipeline systems.
KBR (Kellogg Brown & Root) 370 M Products catalog
The In-Amenas Project's EPC contractor was a 50/50 joint venture between JGC Corporation of Japan and KBR of the United States.
KBR (Kellogg Brown & Root)   Products catalog
On 2 October 2017, KBR, Inc. has been awarded an engineering and project management services contract by JVGAS – a joint venture of Sonatrach, Statoil and BP – for the provision of engineering, procurement and construction management services in Amenas Gas.
Peppers Cable Glands Limited   Products catalog
Peppers Cable Glands Limited was a warded a contract from BP / Sonatrach to supply Cable Glands to (In Amenas Gas Project).
Petrofac Algeria   Products catalog
Petrofac was awarded a detailed engineering and procurement contract for the In-Amenas gathering system.
Petrofac Algeria   Products catalog
On 8 January 2013, Petrofac has been awarded a substantial services contract to provide a range of multi-discipline consultancy, design and procurement services in In Amenas asset.
Sonatrach   Products catalog
ENAFOR company, a subsidiary of Sonatrach, conducted the drilling programme.

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