Total (37.75%), Sonatrach (51%) and Cepsa (11.25%) says that the Algerian National Oil and Gas Development Agency (ALNAFT) has approved the development plan for the Timimoun natural gas project, located between Timimoun and Adrar in southwestern Algeria.

This project milestone is the outcome of an exploration and appraisal program begun in 2003, during which six wells were drilled.

Development work should begin in the fourth quarter of the year, with first gas scheduled for 2013. Timimoun is expected to commercially produce around 1.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year (160 millions cubic feet per day) at plateau.

Total, Sonatrach and Cepsa will jointly operate the Timimoun project. The development plan entails drilling around 40 wells to tap eight structures over an area of 2,500 square kilometres. It also includes the construction of gas gathering and processing facilities, as well as a connection to the pipeline that Sonatrach has been called to develop to carry gas from fields in southwestern Algeria to Hassi R’Mel.

Under the marketing agreement, Sonatrach will market all the gas produced.

The Timimoun development project consolidates the long-standing cooperation between Total and Sonatrach in the upstream.

Tags: Total