Petrofac, the international oil & gas service provider, has entered into two strategic contract agreements with Algerian state-owned Sonatrach.

The first is a five year contract where Petrofac will be providing a range of multi-discipline engineering design and procurement services in support of Sonatrach’s upstream hydrocarbon development programme within the procedures that govern the tendering process. It is anticipated that the contract will cover the early definition of new projects, detailed engineering and services in support of project execution. Around 100 personnel will support the contract throughout its duration.

Under the terms of the second agreement, Petrofac has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sonatrach, committing both parties to establish an Algerian Joint Venture to undertake engineering and project execution of selected upstream and downstream developments. The Joint Venture is expected to be finalised by mid-2015 with first project activity in Q4 2015.

Building local capability and capacity through the transfer of knowledge, systems and processes and customised training is at the heart of both agreements; ensuring the development and mentoring of future generations so they have the skills to take Algeria’s oil and gas industry to the next level. The majority of engineering services will be delivered locally.

Craig Muir, Managing Director for Petrofac’s Engineering & Consulting Services business commented: “Our track record in Algeria extends more than 15 years and over that time we have had the opportunity to undertake many different types of work. From EPC projects at one end of the spectrum, through operations and maintenance and engineering services, underpinned by our strong local technical training capability. These two most recent agreements are excellent illustrations of our strategy in action: utilising our international capability to maximise in-country value in key areas of operations. This is an ideal opportunity to support our longer-term sustainability in-Algeria and we look forward to working with Sonatrach to deliver the wide variety of services that these agreements have the potential to offer.”

About Petrofac

Petrofac is an oilfield service company.
For the last 32 years we have been building our capability, increasing the scale and scope of our service offering. Today, Petrofac can provide services to customers across the entire spectrum of the oil and gas asset life cycle, on either a stand-alone or integrated basis, under flexible commercial models which are tailored to a customer’s needs.

About Sonatrach

Sonatrach is the largest oil and gas company in Algeria and Africa. The company operates in exploration, production, pipeline transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons and by products.
As part of a diversification strategy, Sonatrach stepped up investments in power generation, new and renewable energies, water desalination, and mining exploration and exploitation. The international strategy of the company includes operations in several parts of the world namely: in Africa (Mali, Niger, Libya, Egypt), in Europe (Spain, Italy, Portugal, Great Britain), in Latin America (Peru) and in the USA.
With a turnover nearing $56,1 billion in 2010, Sonatrach is ranked first company in Africa and 12th in the world. It is also 4th world LNG exporter, 3rd world LPG exporter and 5th World Natural gas exporter.