CNPC/Sonatrach Joint Venture Refinery Comes On-Stream
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) on 27 April said a new joint venture refinery with Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach came into operation in southern Algeria on 5 April. CNPC identified the refinery as the Soralchin Oil Refinery, the company’s first integrated project combining both upstream and downstream operations in Algeria. Chinese news sources said the refinery had a processing capacity of 600,000 tons/year (12,000 b/d) and included atmospheric, gas fractionation, reforming and catalytic cracking units and auxiliary facilities. The new plant produces gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and liquefied gas, and will supply products to southern Algeria. In May 2003, Sonatrach awarded to CNPC the Adrar/Sbaa Basin integrated upstream/downstream project contract which provided for the construction of a new 20,000 b/d refinery in the southern Adrar area that would be supplied by crude oil and gas from the 40,000 sq km Sbaa Basin (MEES, 19 May 2003). Sonatrach estimates oil and gas reserves in the basin at 600mn barrels and 100bn cu ms respectively.
China is active in several onshore blocks in Algeria. In March PetroChina reported an oil and gas discovery at the HEBA-1 appraisal well in Block 438b in the northern Sahara. Block 438b, along with Blocks 416a-417 and Blocks 418-419-438a, were award to CNPC and Sinopec during Algeria’s 2004 licensing round (MEES, 12 March, 18 October 2004, 4 October 2004), and Blocks 102a/112 (Chellif) and Block 350 (Oued Mya) to CNPC in the country’s 2003 licensing round (MEES, 22/29 December 2003). China’s Sinopec is also conducting enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the Zarzaitine field (MEES, 7 October 2002).
