Algeria Launches New Natural Gas Pipeline from Southwestern Fields

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): Algeria has started pumping gas through a new pipeline that carries output from southwestern fields including Reggane North, Touat and Timimoun.

The pipeline has capacity of 8.8 billion cubic metre of gas a year, costing 88 billion Algerian dinars ($774 million), an official at state energy firm Sonatrach told reporters at the Hassi Rmel gas field on Thursday.

"We are so proud of this project because it has been constructed 100 percent by Algerian firms," Sonatrach CEO Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour said.

OPEC member Algeria has been hit hard by the slump in world oil prices and has struggled to attract energy investment to help develop new fields and increase existing production.

Algeria is a major gas supplier to Europe.

Courtesy: www.indiatimes.com