Algiers, October 8 - Neftegaz.RU. Sonatrach and Total have signed 2 agreements as part of the comprehensive partnership announced in 2017.
A new concession contract to jointly develop the Erg Issouane gas field located on the TFT Sud permit, signed by Sonatrach and Total. The companies will develop the reserves of Erg Issouane located on the TFT Sud permit estimated at more than 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
The development, which represents an investment of around $ 400 million, will be tied back to the existing TFT gas treatment unit by a 22-kilometer-long gas pipeline. 1st gas is expected late 2021. The partners have also signed a gas marketing agreement.
A shareholder agreement to create a joint venture known as STEP (Sonatrach Total Entreprise Polymères). STEP will be responsible for carrying out a joint petrochemical project in Arzew, western Algeria. The project includes a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and a polypropylene production unit with an output capacity of 550,000 tons per year.
The 2 partners (Sonatrach 51%, Total 49%) are planning to start the front-end engineering and design (FEED) from November 2018. This project will allow to valorize the propane, produced in large quantities locally, by transforming it into polypropylene, a plastic for which demand is growing strongly.
In 2017, Total’s production in Algeria averaged 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), all of it from the TFT gas and condensate field, in which the Group currently holds a 35% in interest.
