Algeria’s national oil company Sonatrach and Thailand’s PTTEP have signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with a consortium comprising Egypt’s Petrojet and Italy’s Arkad for the second phase of the Hassi Bir Rekaiz development project.

The field is located in the northern part of the Berkine Basin, spanning areas within the wilayas of El Oued and Ouargla.

The EPC contract covers construction of a new crude oil processing facility with capacity of 31,500 barrels per day (bpd), associated gas treatment installations; produced water treatment facilities, and related infrastructure and utilities.

The Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said in a separate statement that the $1.1 billion contract's scope includes common facilities to support current and future expansions, including gathering stations, pipeline networks extending approximately 217 km, and associated infrastructure and roadworks.

Planned JV

The Ministry's statement noted that Sonatrach and Petrojet are finalising a feasibility study to establish a joint venture focused on local manufacturing of static equipment for Algeria’s energy sector. The planned JV will manufacture specialised static equipment including [fractionation] towers and columns, pressure vessels, heat exchangers and breakers, in accordance with ASME standards in a phased manner, starting with the local market and expand into export markets in West Africa.

Marketing pact

Separately, Sonatrach and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) signed a framework cooperation agreement covering marketing of crude oil and petroleum products. This fixed-term agreement will allow both parties to identify, examine and implement opportunities for marketing Algerian and Egyptian crude petroleum and petroleum products.

(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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