Algeria’s Gas Projects: Playing Catch-Up

6 Sep 2019 Issue: 62 / 36 By: Aydin Calik

Algeria’s gas output is steadily declining. While the country has plenty of projects in the pipeline, actually bringing them online is the real challenge. After Touat, the nearest planned new project will not start up until at least 2022.

It has taken almost 10 years from when development was first approved for Algeria to complete the 9.2bcm/y ‘Phase-1’ of its Southwest Gas Project (SWGP). Without the chronic delays, the new projects could have seen Algeria easily surpass the 100bcm/y mark. This wasn’t to be. Instead, 2016’s 94.8bcm looks to have been the high-water mark.

By the time Algeria hit that record, none of the three projects that comprise SWGP had come online. The Repsol-led 2.9bcm/y Reggane Nord started-up in late 2017 and Total’s 1.8bcm/y Timimoun tight-gas project in early 2018. The largest element, the 4.5bcm/y Neptune Energy-operated Touat project, was on the cusp of start-up last week (MEES, 30 August): though the firm evidently jumped the gun in saying on 29 August that start-up was coming “imminently, today or potentially tomorrow.” (CONTINUED - 1371 WORDS)