Sonatrach makes new oil and gas finds
06-08-08 Algerian state-owned energy group Sonatrach announced four oil and gas finds in the Sahara desert, bringing to 13 the number of hydrocarbon discoveries this year.
The finds, the result of Sonatrach's own exploration efforts, were in the basins of Illizi and Oued Mya, Sonatrach said.
One gas find was in the In Amenas perimeter in the Illizi basin, with a test flow of 7,342 cm an hour. The other was in the Oudoume Est perimeter, with a gas flow of 7,475 cm/hour and a condensate flow of 2.15 cm/hour.
A find in El M'Zald Sud perimeter in the Oued Mya basin produced a flow of 14.5 cm an hour of oil and 2.45 cm an hour of gas. Another find in the El M'Zald Sud perimeter produced 2.2 cm an hour of oil.
Out of the 13 hydrocarbon finds in Algeria this year, 7 were by Sonatrach alone and 6 in association with partners. The total number of oil and gas in OPEC-member Algeria rose to 20 finds in 2007 from 18 in the previous year.
Algeria pumps about 1.4 mm barrels of oil per day and exports 62bn cm of gas a year, mostly to Europe.
Source: http://in.reuters.com
