A project consortium that includes RWE Dea has signed a major contract for the construction of a natural gas processing plant and infrastructure in the Algerian Sahara for the Reggane Nord project. The contract is valued at US$976 million and represents an important step forward for the project.

Representatives of the Groupement Reggane of which RWE Dea is a partner signed the contract to construct the natural gas processing facilities and corresponding infrastructure including the gathering network and export pipeline on Thursday. The USDollar976 million contract was awarded to Petrofac International (UAE) LLC and stipulates completion of the facilities within 36 months. After completion the plant will be operated with a gas troughput capacity of around 283 million cubic feet per day.

The Groupement Reggane partners are RWE Dea AG with its 19.5%-share, the Algerian enterprise Sonatrach (40%), Repsol from Spain (29.25%), and Edison from Italy (11.25%).

"With the construction start of these facilities, we've achieved a very important milestone in this development project. We are pleased to be moving this project forward into the execution phase," remarked Christoph Schlichter, Senior Vice President Production North Africa of RWE Dea AG. "We are concurrently driving ahead all project activities for start of production, which is scheduled for summer 2017," Schlichter said.

A total of 26 development wells are planned to be completed during the first drilling campaign. The Groupement already awarded the rig contract in March this year to secure the necessary rig capacity for drilling and completion.

A successful 3D seismic campaign was also completed in the concession area in April this year. The seismic covered an area of 1,450 square kilometres. The acquired data, which is currently being processed and interpreted, will complement the extensive information already collected on previous seismic campaigns and enhance the detail and quality of information about subsurface structures of the various reservoirs.

“The project’s expected reserves will make a significant contribution to the growth of RWE Dea’s gas production in the years to come,” said Dirk Warzecha, Chief Operating Officer of RWE Dea AG.

In 2002, RWE Dea started exploration activites in the concession area Reggane Nord together with partners Sonatrach, Repsol (operator) and Edison with corresponding gas discoveries. Capital expenditures will total approximately USDollar3 billion for the development project. The production phase of the project is expected to span more than 25 years.

A propos de RWE

RWE Dea AG, headquartered in Hamburg, is an international company engaged in the exploration and production of natural gas and crude oil. The company deploys state-of-the-art drilling and production technologies and puts its many years’ experience acquired to good use in its activities. RWE Dea has set new standards in the fields of safety and environmental protection.

RWE Dea has stakes in production facilities and concessions in Germany, the UK, Norway, Denmark, Egypt and Algeria, and holds exploration licenses in Ireland, Libya, Mauritania, Poland, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, and Turkmenistan. Moreover, in Germany RWE Dea operates large subterranean storage facilities for natural gas. RWE Dea is part of the RWE Group, one of Europe’s largest energy utilities.