Algeria Raises Oil Output On Merk Record, Ourhoud Rebound

4 Nov 2016 Issue: 59 / 44

Algeria’s key foreign oil producer added 50,000 b/d in Q3, boosting the country’s total output to the highest level this year. Gas output may also rise later this year. But the long-term trend remains resolutely down.

Algeria’s oil production has received a boost with output at the El Merk field in the Berkine Basin – the country’s only sizable oil start-up of recent years – rising to a record 165,000 b/d in Q3. The nearby Ourhoud field, long in decline, saw output rebound to a three year high of over 130,000 b/d with the completion of a project enabling increased rates of water injection.

According to figures released by US firm Anadarko alongside its Q3 results on 1 November, gross output from facilities on the company’s Berkine Basin blocks averaged 400,000 b/d in Q3, up 40,000 b/d from Q2 and the highest level since Q4 2010. Output at aging Ourhoud and nearby Hassi Berkine has been in steep long term decline, a trend that has only been partially counterbalanced by the start up of output at El Merk in 2013. (CONTINUED - 840 WORDS)